


Falling Hard And Fast

by Belladonnablush



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, everthorne, galeniss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-11
Updated: 2013-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:26:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Belladonnablush/pseuds/Belladonnablush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few months after returning from the 74th Games as a victor, Katniss realizes that the reason she can't bring herself to love Peeta is that deep down, she's always been in love with Gale. Now she just needs to make Gale understand how much she needs him, even if that means walking through a storm to tell him. Sometimes those cold rainy nights end up the steamiest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What She Wants

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, standard disclaimer, don't own the Hunger Games or it's characters. 
> 
> This is a story written for my Galeniss girlfriends who love Gale as much as I love Peeta, and who feel that there just isn't enough Gale smut in the fandom! This is not intended to be a deep plot story. It is only intended to be fun and guilty pleasure, full of love and romance and sexy smut. So if that's not what you are looking for, then don't read it. It takes place after the events of the first book, with some fictional flashbacks (so it's sort of half canon, half AU) and completely ignores books two and three. If you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it and please leave me a review if you liked it!

_How am I supposed to sleep tonight?_ I wondered.

The sun hadn't even set yet, and I already knew there was no way I was going to be getting any sleep tonight, when I couldn't stop thinking about Gale...couldn't stop fantasizing about him. If only he knew how many naughty scenarios he'd made an appearance in when it was late at night and I was alone in my bed, wishing he was there with me, wondering if he had the same kind of thoughts about me.

Since I'd returned from the Games alive, Gale and I had developed a whole new appreciation for one another, and our relationship as best friends had begun to deepen into stronger feelings. For a while now, the attraction between us had been slowly growing and simmering just beneath the surface. Apparently coming so close to each of us losing our other half had made us realize just how much we needed each other. Lately, everything we had done together had felt charged with sexual tension that had never been there before, and my impatience was starting to get the best of me.

Even during our recent hunting trips, it seemed like suddenly Gale kept finding little reasons to touch me... holding my hand when we crossed a river, tucking loose tendrils of hair behind my ear when they'd escaped from my braid, slowly brushing his fingers across my bottom lip one afternoon a few days ago, after we had eaten handfuls of wild blackberries, whispering, “Your lips are stained with berry juice...”.

As his fingers lingered on my lips, I had slowly touched my tongue to his fingertips and tasted the sweetness of the berries.

“So are your fingers, Gale.”

We had stared at each other for a few moments, the space between us filled with palpable longing, both waiting for the other to make the first move, before finally Gale had backed away, clearing his throat, then said, “We'd better go check the traps, we're running out of daylight.”

Smiling at the memory, I shook my head, bringing myself back from my reverie of Gale.

Part of me was irritated with myself for acting this way, like a silly lovesick schoolgirl. I'd never been one who was prone to flights of fancy, or to getting caught up in my emotions. I was responsible, practical. But somewhere deep down, there was also a part of me which was enjoying this feeling of falling in love. Gale had awakened feelings in me that I never knew I was capable of having about another person.

As I stared out my bedroom window at the sun beginning its late afternoon descent into the treeline, I closed my eyes and smiled, remembering the wonderful hours I had spent with Gale earlier today, when our attraction had finally become undeniable.

We'd been out hunting, and had ventured further out into the woods than we'd ever gone before. We came across a huge apple tree, full of beautiful ripe red apples. Fruit trees are rare in District 12, so this tree looked like a treasure trove. Both Gale and I circled around the tree, trying to find a branch that hung low enough for us to reach, but all were too high. Even if Gale jumped as high as he could, he still couldn't quite grab the lowest branch.

“Come here,” Gale instructed me.

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“I'll lift you up, and you grab the branch.” he said. He held his arms out in front of him and laced the fingers of his hands together, like a stirrup for me to step into. “Put your foot in my hands and step up, and I'll lift you.”

“Fine!” I sighed, rolling my eyes at him. I walked up in front of him and gingerly placed my right foot into his intertwined hands.

“Now put your hands on my shoulders for balance.” he said.

I stepped up into his fingers, and at the same time, I felt him straighten his back and stand up tall. I felt wobbly and off-balanced, standing on just my one leg on Gale's hands.

“Stand still Gale! I'm going to fall!”

“You're not going to fall. Just reach up and grab the branch! Hurry! I can't hold you like this forever!” he said.

I was holding onto his shoulder with one hand, and straining to reach upward with the other. I was close enough to touch a few leaves, but couldn't quite grab the branch.

“Use both hands Katniss!” he growled at me.

“Just lift me a little bit higher, and I'll be able to reach it!”

Gale mustered up the last bit of strength he had in his hands and heaved me up another couple of inches, just as I stretched myself upwards, letting go of his shoulder and reaching towards the sky.

“I got it Gale! I got it!” I cried out in excitement, as I grabbed onto the branch, which was loaded with heavy ripe apples. But in my excitement, I lost my balance, falling forward towards him.

I held on tight to the branch with both hands, trying to regain my balance, but the sudden shift in my weight made Gale lose his balance too, and he lost his grip on my foot as he stumbled backwards.

We both fell to the ground, with me still holding tightly onto the branch almost the whole way down. Gale landed on the ground on his back, and with a very ungraceful thud, I landed right on top of him. My sudden, clumsy landing caused me to lose my grip on the tree branch, and as it shot back upward from my letting go of it, we suddenly found ourselves getting pelted by apples raining down on us from out of the tree.

We both shrieked with laughter, and he took me by surprise when he quickly rolled me over so that I was underneath him, to protect me from the onslaught of apples that were now falling onto his back and all around us. He brought his hands up to shield my face.

When the apples stopped falling, we opened our eyes and looked at each other. Our exuberant laughter quickly quieted, as we suddenly became acutely aware of our closeness. I was on my back in the grass, with Gale lying on top of me between my loosely spread legs, his arms alongside my head, his hands touching the sides of my face.

“Are you alright?” Gale asked. “Did you get hurt when we fell?”

“No,” I replied, smiling up at him. “I'm fine. Luckily for me, I landed on you instead of the ground. Are you okay? I'm sorry I fell on you.”

“I'm not sorry you fell on me.”

I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. “Oh, really?”

“Well, it _was_ my fault I dropped you. The _least_ I could do is make your landing a little nicer.” Gale answered with a smirk.

_“Right.”_ I sarcastically agreed, wrapping my arms around his back.

“I'm just sorry that I couldn't stop you from falling.” he said softly, now stroking the sides of my face with his thumbs, his gray eyes gazing at me, smoldering with a hunger that even I, in my limited knowledge of attraction, could recognize.

I decided to get brave. I couldn't understand why he was holding back, but if Gale wasn't going to make the first move, then I would. I was tired of waiting. I pulled him in a little closer, so that our faces were almost touching now.

“I fell for you a long time ago, Gale.”

I lifted my head up off the ground a little, to bring my lips to his. Our mouths met softly, and my heart fluttered when I felt him not only return the kiss, but deepen it, by curling one hand underneath my neck to bring my mouth even closer. I parted my lips for him, and I felt a thrill of excitement course through my body, as I felt Gale's tongue slide across mine for the first time. I eagerly returned the motion with my own tongue across his, delighting in the sensation of being wanted and desired by my best friend.

I moved my hands down to his waist, found the hem of his shirt, and slid my hands up underneath, gently caressing the smooth skin of his back. I heard his breath catch with surprise at the unexpected touch of my fingers on his body.

I guided my hands further up his back, almost to his shoulders, and pressed my fingers into smooth contours of muscle that surrounded his shoulder blades. The closer I pulled him, the deeper his tongue explored into my mouth, and I couldn't get enough. I sighed with enjoyment.

But then suddenly, Gale pulled his mouth away from mine and stared at me.

“I shouldn't be encouraging you to do this, Katniss.” he said, sounding ashamed.

“Do what- kiss you? Why not? Don't you like me Gale?” I asked, instantly feeling hurt and confused. Was it possible that I'd read him wrong?

“Of course I like you! Isn't it obvious?”

“Then what's the problem?”

Gale sighed. “Don't you already _have_ a boyfriend?”

I couldn't help laughing out loud at that.

_“What?”_ I asked through my laughter. “Are you talking about _Peeta?_ ”

“Of course I'm talking about Peeta!” he answered. “Unless there's anyone else you've been kissing that I don't know about!”

“I'm sorry Gale, I don't mean to laugh, but Peeta is _not_ my boyfriend! We barely even qualify as _friends_ these days. We are most definitely _not_ a couple!”

“Well, you sure looked like a couple in the arena.” Gale said, with a slightly sour edge to his voice.

“So _that's_ what this has been all about? All the mixed signals you've been giving me?” I asked, as the pieces fell together in my head. “You wanted me, but you thought I was with Peeta?”

“Yes.” he admitted. “Watching you kiss him all the time was torture for me. The closer you got to him, the more jealous I got... it made me realize just how much you meant to me. I was afraid that either way, I'd lost you... that either you were going to die in that arena, or that even if you somehow survived, I still wouldn't have you, because you'd chosen Peeta. I thought that I was too late.”

I brought my hands out of Gale's shirt, where they had been resting on his back, and brought them up to the sides of his face. I smiled warmly at him.

“You're not too late, Gale. Yes, Peeta and I were close for a while, but we're not now. Most of what you saw in the arena was an act, in order to keep us alive. I like him, but I never loved him. It's _you_ that I want. So shut up and kiss me.”

With both of my hands, I pulled his face back towards mine, and we resumed our kissing as if we had never stopped. I welcomed the warmth of his lips returning to mine, and our tongues reuniting with renewed fervor.

“All this time...” he murmured between kisses. “All this time, I've wanted you, and I could have had you...”

“You have me now.” I replied, before joining our lips again.

As he kissed me, I felt Gale's hand slowly skim its way up my forearm, his fingers brushing over my wrist and then coming to rest on top of my hand, which was still pressed to his cheek. His lips suddenly pulled away from our kiss again, but before I even had a chance to wonder why, Gale took my hand that he was holding onto, and in one smooth move, he turned his head towards my hand and guided my index finger into his warm mouth, softly sucking on it.

I sucked my breath in sharply in surprise at the strange yet incredibly pleasurable sensation of him moving his tongue up and down my finger, all the time watching my reaction with enraptured eyes. My mouth hung open, unable to even squeak out a word, as I watched Gale seductively sucking my finger... an act that was so innocent, yet profoundly erotic at the same time.

When he finally slid it out of his mouth, he asked, “Did you like that?”

I nodded.

“Good,” he replied. “because there are so many other parts of your beautiful body that I am looking forward to exploring with my mouth... when you're ready for that, of course.”

_Whoa._

If his mouth could turn me on so much just from sucking on one finger, I couldn't even imagine what he was capable of doing to the rest of me.

“Kiss me again, Gale.” I managed to whisper.

As he leaned in and gave me what I wanted, I felt him reach one hand down to my hip, then slide down my leg and grab onto my thigh just above my knee, giving it a squeeze as he held my leg firmly against his side while he continued kissing me like no other man had ever kissed me before.

We spent nearly an hour underneath the branches of that apple tree, Gale's mouth lingering on mine, playfully sucking on my bottom lip, traveling down the front of my throat, then returning to my waiting mouth for more. I could have stayed there all afternoon, if my mother hadn't been expecting me home for dinner.

We never did get any hunting done, but we did leave the woods happily hand in hand, as he walked me back to my house in the Victor's Village with our game bag full of nearly two dozen apples.

That was only two hours ago. Only two hours since Gale had walked me home and told me goodbye for the night, and the whole time since, I'd done nothing but think about him.

_This is stupid!_ I chastised myself. Sitting here in my room, daydreaming about Gale was a silly waste of time, and not something I ever would have allowed myself to do before. I decided that I had two options: either stay here and lie awake missing Gale all night, or do something about it. Waiting patiently was never in my nature, so I wasn't going to start doing it now. I grabbed my favorite hunting boots and headed downstairs. I was going to see Gale. _Right now._

As the autumn sun began to sink below the horizon, I said goodbye to my mother, telling her that I was going out night hunting with Gale overnight, which we _had_ done in the past, but I actually had no intention of doing tonight.

“Be careful, hunting in the dark,” she told me. She never particularly liked when we hunted the nocturnal animals in the dark of night.

“Don't worry, I'll be safe. I'll be with Gale all night.” I assured her. At least that part wasn't a lie... I _would_ be with Gale all night. We just wouldn't be doing any hunting. “I'll be home sometime tomorrow, but I'm not sure when, so don't worry if I'm not home right away. If I'm tired, I might take a nap at Gale's before I come home.”

“Don't forget to wear a coat, Katniss. It's cold out tonight.” she told me.

I grabbed whatever coat I had hanging by the front door, and skipped out, yelling goodbye to her as I closed the door behind me.

I pulled my coat on, warming my arms against the cool breeze. It was one of the coldest evenings we'd had so far, now that summer had given way to early autumn. I looked up and noted that thick gray clouds had moved in. The sky tonight looked dark and foreboding, like one of those cold autumn storms was brewing, the kind where the water falling from the clouds couldn't decide if it wanted to fall as rain or wet snow. I decided I'd better start walking a little faster before it began raining, since the coat I'd grabbed wasn't waterproof.

I snuck through the fence and headed into the woods towards Gale's house.

Last spring, not long before the reaping, Gale and I had found an old abandoned cabin way out in the woods, and he decided to fix it up and make it his own. We had started fixing the cabin, patching holes in the roof and sealing cracks in the log walls. We'd swept and scrubbed the inside, cleaned out the rustic stone fireplace and hearth, and shared our vision of how one day it would feel warm and welcoming. But then the reaping happened, and I didn't know if I would live to see this place again.

When I returned as a victor, Gale and I didn't talk much about the Games. I didn't really feel like reliving the experience, and I got the distinct impression that Gale didn't want to know any more than he already did, especially when it came to Peeta. So we settled into a routine of comfortable silence, as we picked up our work on the cabin where we'd left off before the reaping.

All throughout the cabin were signs of both of us, evidence of the labor of love it had been as we worked side by side all summer, turning this small, run-down log cabin into Gale's cozy home... furs from animals we had trapped together, curtains I'd made him from some pretty fabric I'd gotten at the Hob, a cooking kettle by the stone hearth that I'd gotten in trade for some wild turkeys I'd hunted, hand-dipped candles we had made from melting beeswax together one afternoon. It almost felt like it was our home, our safe haven away from the outside world.

I knew the route through the woods to Gale's house by heart, even in the dark. I was walking briskly now, as I started to feel the first drops of rain on my face. I wished that I had left my house earlier, and I would be there by now, warm and dry with Gale.

Before I was even halfway there, the rain picked up in intensity, and before long I was being drenched by windswept gusts of water that were quickly soaking through my coat, and then my clothing. I quickened my pace to a jog, shivering as my hair became saturated and dripped down into the back of my shirt, and my feet grew numb because my boots were soaked through from stepping in puddles as I ran. By the time I reached Gale's house, I was a freezing cold, sopping wet mess. I pounded on his door, then stood there with my arms wrapped around myself while I waited for him to answer.

“Katniss? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Gale asked with genuine concern, totally shocked to see me standing at his door. He pulled me inside before I could even answer.

“I'm sorry Gale, nothing's wrong, I'm fine. I just wanted to see you. I didn't know that the weather was going to turn.”

He closed the door behind me, then he took hold of my hands and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“Your hands are like ice!” he exclaimed. “Take off your coat and boots so you can warm up.”

I did as he instructed, and he took them from me, but then he saw that the rest of my clothes were just as wet, and my teeth were chattering from the cold.

“God, Katniss, you're soaked to the bone! You're going to catch pneumonia!” Gale said. He grabbed a towel and handed it to me. “Here, go in the bedroom and dry yourself off. Change out of your wet clothes and put on something of mine, before you freeze to death!”

Gale's “bedroom” wasn't so much of a separate room, as much as just a bed and dresser separated from the rest of the cabin by a dividing wall. I went behind the wall and stripped out of all my rain-drenched clothes, shivering as I toweled myself off. I undid the braid in my hair which was dripping cold water down my back, and towel dried it as best I could, leaving it loose to dry out a little, as I stood there naked next to his bed. I glanced around the room for something of Gale's to put on that might come close to fitting me. I pulled out one of his dresser drawers and dug through his clothes, biting on my bottom lip a little as I tried to find something that would feel warm and snuggly against my chilled skin.

I turned to toss the towel onto Gale's bed, and when I did, I found what I wanted to put on. Flung carelessly onto his pillow was a shirt of Gale's that I'd seen him wear many times. It was a gray henley shirt, buttons all casually undone at the collar, the way he always wore it. It was soft and broken in from being washed and worn a hundred times. Clearly he had worn this shirt to bed last night.

I picked up the shirt and held it to my face, breathing in Gale's scent that lingered on the fabric. I smiled at the feeling of comfort and warmth that instantly filled my whole body, just from smelling the familiar combination of his skin, fresh air and woodsmoke. I put my arms in the sleeves, then slid the shirt over my head and onto my body. His shirt was huge on me, due to Gale being so much taller and broader shouldered than I was, but I liked how it made me feel like I was wrapped in Gale himself. With the buttons all undone, the collar was so wide that it hung loosely off to one side, exposing my shoulder and upper arm. The hem of the shirt fell to my upper thighs.

_Looks a little sexy..._ I thought to myself, smiling mischievously.

I peered around the corner of the dividing wall of the bedroom and saw Gale kneeling at the hearth with his back to me, putting more wood on the fire.

“Gale,” I called out to him, “what should I do with my wet clothes?”

“Bring them out here and I'll hang them by the fire to dry.” he called back.

Still down on his knees, Gale reached sideways and grabbed a wooden chair that was nearby, dragging it closer to the fireplace to hang my clothes on.

He still had his back to me as I approached him. I stopped just a few feet behind him, and waited as he finished positioning my waterlogged boots and coat in front of the fire to dry out.

First I tossed him my shirt, which landed next to him on the hearth with a wet _splat._ He picked it up and hung it on the chair. Next I tossed down my pants, which also got draped over the chair, without him ever turning to look at me.

“There, that should do it,” Gale said, as he finished arranging my pants on the back of the chair.

“Almost.” I replied, tossing one more handful of fabric down onto the hearth.

Gale reached down and picked up the small pile of wet lacy fabric. I grinned, noticing his adam's apple move in his throat as he swallowed, when he quickly realized that he was holding in his hands my bra and panties.

He slowly turned himself around to face me, still kneeling down on his knees. I watched as his eyes drank me in, slowly scanning my body from my ankles up to my face, as I stood before him, wearing nothing but his gray shirt.

“Oh... My... God...” Gale murmured.

“Is it okay that I borrowed this?” I asked him, in my most innocent sounding voice.

Gale nodded, still looking me up and down.

I had to admit, I was greatly enjoying seeing the usually very smooth Gale, rendered speechless by his own shirt. He cleared his throat, as if it would help him find his voice that he seemed to have suddenly lost.

“Wait here a second.” he finally managed to say, as he scrambled to his feet and rushed past me into his bedroom. He came back just a few seconds later, carrying the beige quilt from his bed, and he laid it out on the floor in front of the fire.

“Here, Katniss, sit down by the fire and warm up.” he told me. “I'll make you some hot tea.”

While he hung a teakettle of water over the flames in the fieldstone fireplace, I sat down on his quilt with my bare legs stretched out in front of me, enjoying the warmth of the crackling fire. With my right hand, I started sweeping my still slightly wet hair off to the side, so I could braid it as I always did. But before I had even gotten my hair parted into sections, Gale sat down next to me and gently pulled my hands out of my hair.

“Don't.” he said softly, his eyes reflecting the fire as he gazed at me. “Leave your hair down tonight. I like it... it looks sexy.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush pink at his compliment. “If you like it.”

He ran his hand through my hair, then curved his fingers around the back of my neck to pull me in for a kiss.

“So,” he said when he pulled his mouth away from mine, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?”

“I just wanted to see you... and hopefully spend the night with you. I hope you don't mind.”

“Are you kidding?” he laughed. “I'm sitting here with the girl I love, who is currently wearing nothing but my shirt, who says she would like to spend the night with me. I _most_ _certainly_ do not mind. This is like my fantasy come true!”

“You have a fantasy like this? How does this fantasy end?” I asked coyly, leaning in towards him and running a hand through his dark hair.

“I'll show you by the end of the night.” he replied, with a twinkle in his eye. “But first I'm going to fix you that cup of tea I promised you, to warm you up.”

“Forget the tea.” I said, grabbing his hand and placing it on my bare thigh. “I'd rather _you_ warmed me up.”

He looked down at my hand, which was holding his against my upper thigh, then glanced back up at my eyes.

“Hold that thought.” he said with a smirk.

He left my side just long enough to take the teakettle out of the fire and set it aside, then he sat back down next to me. He brought his hand up and caressed his fingers over the bare skin of my shoulder that was closest to him, the one exposed by the loose collar of his shirt, then leaned in and left several soft kisses in the same place.

He moved his mouth up next to my ear and whispered, “What exactly do you want from me tonight?”

“I love you Gale, and I've wanted you for a long time. I want you to make love to me.”

He gently grasped my chin with his thumb and index finger, so we were staring into each others' eyes.

“If you're _sure_ that's what you want, then I need to know... have you... are you a virgin, Katniss?”

_Oh God._ I thought. _Any question but that._

Gale stayed there, gazing at me, waiting patiently for my answer.


	2. The First Time

“I already know _you're_ not.” I said to Gale. “I know you've had girlfriends.”

“No, I'm not.” he admitted. “But there was only one girl that I cared enough about to have a sexual relationship with.”

I vaguely remembered this girl who Gale had dated for several months, but that was nearly a year ago. Back then, the thought of looking at him as more than just a friend had never crossed my mind, so I hadn't really cared who Gale was kissing when he wasn't with me, as long as it didn't interfere with our hunting time.

“Did you love her?” I questioned.

“Yes. Or, I _thought_ I did at the time, anyway. But _you_... how I feel about you...it's so much stronger than I ever felt about her.”

I blushed a little as I smiled at Gale, who was still waiting for my answer.

“So, have _you_ , Katniss?” he asked me again.

I sighed.

“I've only had sex once.” I admitted sheepishly.

“With _him_ , I assume?” Gale asked, doing a poor job of hiding his disappointment at the thought of me giving up my virginity to Peeta, not because he was jealous, but because it hurt him to know that I'd given it to someone I didn't love.

“Yes.” I answered.

“Was it during the Games?”

“No, it was afterward.”

He was quiet for a moment, as he sat there next to me, twirling a lock of my hair around his fingers.

“It only happened once,” I reiterated.

I stared off into the fire as the memory of that night came flooding back to me.

There _had_ been one time with Peeta, about three months ago, not long after we'd returned to district 12 and moved into Victor's Village, right next door to each other. It had happened during a particularly bad night for both of us. I'd just woken up in the middle of the night, screaming and sweat-drenched from a nightmare, then wandered downstairs to my kitchen in a sleepwalk daze to make myself a cup of tea, not knowing how else to quiet the fear that still gripped my body. As I stood in front of my kitchen window, holding my steaming mug in both of my still-shaking hands, I noticed that the lights were on in Peeta's kitchen and living room. I wondered what he was still doing up at this hour.

I hadn't seen Peeta much since I'd admitted to him that much of my affection in the arena had been an act, but I suddenly felt the selfish need to see him, to feel the calming effect he always had on me in the past. I didn't know who else to turn to. I was still so fucked up by the Games then, and he was the only person who truly understood the damaged side of me, the part of me that was filled with fear and anger and hatred over what we had been subjected to and what we had survived together. I set down my tea on the counter, and walked out my front door in just my nightgown and bare feet. I arrived on Peeta's front step and knocked on the door.

“Peeta?” I called out softly, so he would know that it was me. He opened the door a moment later.

“Katniss? What are you doing here? It's two o'clock in the morning.” he said. “Are you alright?”

“I had a nightmare. I saw you were up...”

He nodded, an expression of understanding and empathy warming his face. Even though our relationship had been rather distant and awkward since we'd returned from the Games, he could still never turn his back on me when I needed him.

“Come on in,” he invited me. “I had nightmares tonight too. That's why I'm up. I'm painting.”

He brought me into his kitchen, where he'd been working on a painting, purging the horrors of the arena out of his head and onto the canvas. I always hated looking at his paintings when he did this, because they terrified me. It was as if he could look straight into my soul and then reproduce my own nightmares in brightly colored oils and watercolors. Sometimes they felt even more real to me when they were right there in front of me on the canvas, than when they haunted my sleeping mind.

Peeta watched me thoughtfully as I reached my fingers out and touched a spot of still wet paint, then recoiled with disgust, as if the muttation depicted there would be able to lunge forward and tear me apart limb from limb.

“I don't want to look at it anymore, Peeta.” I whispered hoarsely, my voice shaky with unease.

“Okay,” he answered softly. “Come on, let's go in the other room.”

He led me into his living room, and the moment he turned back around to face me, I'd thrown myself into his arms, selfishly needing to feel the solidness of his body to remind me that I was awake and safe. He wrapped his arms around me, not needing to ask why I'd done it, as he felt me trembling beneath his hands. Suddenly, we desperately needed the comfort and familiarity of each others' touch to chase away the nightmares. We both clung to each other tightly, understanding that in that moment, we were each others' only connection to the physical world versus the realm of our nightmares...our only way to tell what was real and not real.

Peeta pulled me closer, and that was how it began.

“I've missed you, Katniss.” he whispered to me.

“I need you.” I'd whispered back.

It was the truth, but for the wrong reasons. I didn't need Peeta because I loved him; I needed Peeta because in that moment I was afraid, and he was my escape.

He ran his hands through my hair, tugging it gently as he brought my cheek to his lips, raining kisses all over my face, then finding his way to my mouth. Our kisses were rushed and urgent, and they quickly led to Peeta's mouth nipping and sucking its way down my neck as I hurriedly gathered up the bottom of his shirt in my hands, breaking our body contact only long enough to pull it up over his head as fast as possible.

Together we lowered ourselves to our knees and then to the floor, in a frenzied rush of pulling off clothing and clawing at skin. We were all instinct and no knowledge. We'd never done this before, or even come close. But that night, we both were scared and confused, and we needed something tangible to hold onto, something to remind us that we were alive and that we were not alone. We were a tangled mess of arms and legs wrapped together on the floor, our hearts pounding with the heady combination of lust and loneliness.

The weight of Peeta's now naked body on top of mine was reassuring. His scent was soothing and familiar, just like all the times he had comforted me before.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he asked, as I felt him, in a very new and decidedly _unfamiliar_ way, hard and throbbing between my legs.

“Yes. I need you.” I repeated.

I could feel him pressed to my entrance, so I grabbed on to Peeta's hips and pulled him inside of me, even though my own body wasn't fully ready or wet enough for the sudden movement. I let out a gasp at the unexpected pain of Peeta's body filling mine. He stopped when he heard me, but I encouraged him to continue.

He slowly pushed a little deeper into me, and tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I didn't want him to stop. I _wanted_ to feel the pain. The physical pain that I was feeling right now, I could handle. I understood that sort of pain, knew how to deal with it. I even welcomed it, because it pushed aside all the emotional and psychological pain that I had been filled with when I'd arrived on his doorstep just a few minutes ago. _That_ type of pain I did _not_ know how to deal with, and I just wanted it go away.

But as we moved together, and my body rocked with his gentle, steady rhythm, the pain began to subside and was replaced with a new sensation, one of slowly building pleasure. I'd never felt anything like it before, and I wanted more of it. I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated on how good he felt inside of me, as I lifted my pelvis to feel him deeper, with one of my hands grabbing at his back, the other hand clutching a fistful of his blonde hair at the back of his head.

“Peeta... Peeta...” I sighed, his name the only word that my lips could form at the moment.

“God, you feel so good, Katniss,” he moaned into my shoulder as he continued carefully thrusting into me, effectively making me forget why I had come here tonight in the first place.

Not long after that, we'd both finished in a dizzying climax of physical gratification. We stayed there for several minutes afterward, panting and trembling there on the floor with Peeta still inside of me.

But then finally he spoke, breaking the silence as well as whatever had been the delicate bond between us.

“I love you, Katniss.” he murmured into my ear, with his head resting sleepily on my shoulder, his fingers lovingly stroking my cheek.

 _No, no, no!_ I thought to myself, as cold fear rushed into my body, replacing the warm bliss that had just been there a moment ago.

I suddenly realized the gravity of what we had just done. The reality crashed down on me that this had not meant the same thing to me as it had to Peeta, and my guilt overwhelmed me. I felt tears filling my eyes as I struggled to pull away under the weight of his now sleepy body, panic rising in my throat.

“I'm sorry Peeta...” I choked out, my brain unable to explain in a way that made sense. “I can't... I don't...”

He quickly shook off his drowsiness and looked at me with concern. He tried to hold me, to keep me from wriggling out from underneath him.

“What's wrong, Katniss? Talk to me! Did I do something wrong?”

I sobbed as I shook my head no, escaping his grasp and crawling to where my nightgown lay strewn on the floor next to his own pajamas. I hastily pulled it on, then felt Peeta urgently tugging at my hand.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked with alarm.

“No, Peeta.” I finally answered, as I let him get close to me once again, and he cupped my face with both of his hands. “That was.. _.amazing._ ” I admitted. “You have _never_ hurt me, not _ever_ , and that's what's wrong.”

“I don't understand.” he said. “Why is that wrong?”

It was wrong, I knew, because with us, the pain always flowed one direction, and it was always me hurting him.

“Because Peeta, every time you let me get close to you, I hurt you. I don't mean to, I don't want to, it just happens. And I'm tired of hurting you. We shouldn't have done this. I really do care about you, but I can't love you like that...I don't love you the same way you love me...and I'm sorry... so sorry.”

With that, I pulled away from his embrace and rushed out his front door, slamming it behind me.

Instead of being the beautiful bonding experience that this should have been, losing our virginity together had only served to further fracture our already fragile and uncertain relationship, probably damaging it beyond repair, and it was all my fault. After that, I avoided Peeta as much as possible. When we did occasionally cross paths, I could hardly even look him in the eye, I was so ashamed of how deeply I'd hurt him this time.

For a long time after that, I wondered if I was even capable of feeling mature, unselfish, unconditional love for another person. But then, slowly, I realized that I already did feel that way, I just hadn't understood it. I couldn't love Peeta because I was already in love with Gale.

“Why only once?” Gale asked, interrupting my thoughts and bringing me back to the present.

“Hmmm?” I asked.

“I said, why did you sleep with him only once? Had he _forced_ himself on you?” Gale asked, fire quickly rising in his eyes, as he assumed the worst possible scenario.

“No, Gale, no!” I answered, pressing my hand to his chest to calm his unwarranted anger. “It was nothing like that. It was completely mutual and consensual.”

The anger left his eyes, and then was replaced with the twinkle of sarcasm.

“So he was _that bad_ in bed then, that you never wanted to do it again?” he asked with a smartass smirk on his face.

I smacked Gale on the arm. “No, it wasn't that either.” I scoffed at him. “We just... we had done it for all the wrong reasons. We were lonely, we were confused... We needed each others' comfort. But it wasn't love...well, not for me anyway. So I never slept with him again, because I didn't want to hurt his feelings any more than I already had. I couldn't love him because I realized...that I was in love with _you_ , Gale.”

“Well, I am in love with you too, Katniss Everdeen.” he whispered, as he leaned in to kiss me. “I have been for a long time. I want to show you how much, and I want to make you feel very, very good. Sex is a whole different experience when you're in love.”

“Show me, Gale.” I told him, as I climbed up onto his lap, straddling his legs and wrapping my arms around his neck.

He closed the distance between us and I thought he was going to kiss my mouth, but instead he quickly pressed his lips to the side of my neck and began kissing his way down until he reached my bare shoulder. He brought his hand up and traced his fingers from my shoulder where he had left off with his kisses a moment ago, caressing them across my collarbone, and down the part of my upper chest that was exposed by his shirt, touching me ever so gently. Then he followed the same path he'd just made with this fingers, this time with very soft kisses, teasing me, just barely brushing my skin with his lips.

He moved up to my collarbone, and ran his tongue along the indentation in my flesh at the base of my throat, then he blew cool air across where he'd just had his tongue, and my body shivered. He moved slowly back up my neck, continuing his advance of warm kisses all the way up to the side of my face. His breath was warm in my ear, as he grazed my earlobe with his teeth.

“Have I mentioned how fucking hot you look in my shirt?” he whispered to me, his voice thick and raspy with desire.

“I thought you might like it.”

“You have _no idea_ how much I like it.”

“Well, I'd like to see you out of _your_ shirt.” I purred, as I gathered up the bottom of his shirt in my hands. He lifted his arms for me and I pulled it up over his head and tossed it aside.

 _“Ohh,”_ I sighed involuntarily as I admired him.

The flickering amber glow of the fire in front of us cast dancing patterns of light and shadow across the contours of his muscles. I was sure that I must have seen him shirtless before, especially during the hot summers, but I had never really _looked_ at him, never really noticed how strong his arms and shoulders were, how sculpted his abs were. Dear God, Gale was _beautiful_. I ran my fingers down his chest, entranced by his physique.

I felt his hands encircle my waist, then slide down to my hips, and then my thighs. He started moving his hands towards the back of my legs, so I lifted myself up off of his lap, just enough for him to slide his fingers underneath and grab onto my ass. He moaned under his breath as he kneaded my behind, as if he'd forgotten that I wasn't wearing any panties beneath his shirt.

“Lie down with me,” he instructed, keeping his hands pressed to my backside as he reclined backwards onto the quilt, pulling my body on top of his, still straddling his hips. I leaned down and kissed him, his tongue finding mine as our mouths met passionately. I couldn't help but moan a little, as I melted into his kiss.

While he kissed me, his hands drifted up and down the back of my thighs, over my bottom and up to my lower back, over and over again. Little by little, each time he caressed his hands up my thighs, he moved a tiny bit closer to the inside of my legs, closer to where I yearned for him to pleasure me.

He was getting me so aroused, able to excite me with just the slightest touch. Even though I was not a virgin, this part of sexuality was all new to me- since Peeta and I, in our inexperience, had just jumped right to the sex- and I loved that I was experiencing it with Gale.

I pulled my mouth away from his so I could kiss my way down the front of his throat to his chest. As I did, his hands slid up under my shirt and up my sides. I knew he wanted more of my body, so I raised myself up until I was sitting straight up on top of him. I could feel his hardness through his pants, pressed up against me between my legs.

I gazed down at him, lost in his gray eyes that were both dark with lust and warm with love. He held onto my hips, eagerly awaiting what I would do next. Gale's eyes followed my hands as I reached down to my thighs and began gathering up the hem of his shirt I was wearing, and then pulled it up over my head, leaving myself completely naked before him. I rested my hands on his stomach, and just sat there for a minute, letting him look at me the way I'd looked at him.

“You are perfect,” he told me, his eyes and his hands both appreciating my breasts as I sat atop his hips, straddling him.

The way he looked at me, the way his breath quickened as he touched me, he made me feel beautiful and sexy for the first time in my life. I looked down at myself and noticed how radiant my skin looked, bathed in the golden firelight, and how every now and then a stray droplet of water would fall from the ends of my still damp hair that fell loose over my shoulders, dripping onto my chest and running into my cleavage and down my stomach.

Gale tenderly pulled me forward towards him, lifting his head slightly and guiding one of my breasts into his mouth. I sighed, enjoying the feel of his tongue suckling my nipple while he massaged the other breast with his hand. With his mouth still pressed to my chest, raining kiss after kiss upon my breasts, he wrapped his arms around me and rolled me over onto the floor next to him.

I watched, skimming my fingertips softly over his abdomen as he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, tugging them down along with his boxers and kicking them off. My eyes traveled down his now naked body, to where he was so hard and excited for me. I could hardly wait to find out how good he would feel inside me.

While I lay there on my back on his quilt, Gale leaned his upper body in over mine and lowered his face to my belly, his mouth leisurely meandering across it from one side to the other leaving a trail of kisses. I felt the warmth of his tongue in my navel. I gasped and arched my back to meet his mouth, as he danced across the sensitive skin on my stomach with his tongue. Then I felt him blow a cool breath across the warm wetness where his tongue had just been, and I thought I was going to come undone.

“Oh my God, Gale, that is so good,” I sighed.

My body felt like it was tingling all over. I craved his touch...I couldn't get enough of him, and he knew it. I could feel the wetness pooling between my legs as his hand began making its way down my abdomen. I desperately wanted to feel Gale's touch, where no man's hand, not even Peeta's, had ever pleasured me before.

He got into a comfortable position laying alongside me, resting his head on my shoulder. Slowly, he slid his hand down between my legs. I sucked my breath in at the feel of his fingers sliding along my folds, then I felt his fingers advance further down, until he reached my entrance and slowly slid one finger inside.

“Oh, you are so wet, Katniss.” he breathed into my ear as he unhurriedly glided his finger in and out of me. 

His slow, deliberate movements were driving me crazy. I wanted more, and I wanted it _now_. I started moving my hips, meeting the motions of his fingers.

 _“Gale... Gale... please...”_ I begged.

“Shhh.” he soothed me. “I know what you need.”

He casually withdrew his finger, which was now slick with my wetness, and brought it forward, making me quiver as his fingers expertly found my clit, where he knew his touch would send me over the edge. He began by teasing me with the lightest caress, just barely skimming his first two fingers back and forth over it, spreading my own wetness there so that his fingers slid effortlessly across it.

 _“Ohhh...”_ I moaned softly.

“That better?” he asked.

I nodded, unable to make words at the moment, as he continued to tease me with subtle strokes of his fingers.

When he saw my mouth drop open and my eyes closed in response, he began gradually increasing his speed and pressure, as he circled his fingertips over my sensitive flesh. This was far more intense than anything I'd ever felt before.

My breaths were coming in short gasps now, and both of my hands were balled up into tight fists clutching the quilt beneath me as Gale continued his motions.

 _“Gale...”_ I panted in fervent whispers. _“Oh, God, Gale, yes...”_

He watched me with fascination as I writhed beneath his touch, waves of exquisite pleasure rocking my core as I came, and I had to quickly cover my own mouth with my hand to keep myself from crying out his name in ecstasy. I moaned loudly into the palm of my own hand.

I was still softly sighing, _“ahhh.... ahhh...”_ as I came down from my orgasm, and I let my hand fall from my mouth to my chest.

When I opened my eyes, Gale was looking at me with a very amused expression on his face.

“You know, you don't need to try to be quiet when you're here. No one will hear you moaning except me, and I like the sexy sounds you were making. It lets me know you like what I'm doing.” he remarked, as he brought his hand out from between my legs.

“I liked it a lot, Gale. Thank you... that was... _unbelievable_.”

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. I snuggled into his embrace, hugging him back. As he held me close, I could feel that he was still hard, pressed against my hip.

“Gale?”

“Mmmm?” he answered, his lips still touching my temple.

“Could I... pleasure you?” I asked shyly, gradually moving my hand down the trail of dark hair that led down his belly to his groin.

“You don't _have_ to, you know.” he said quietly, sensing my hesitation.

“I know. I _want_ to. But...” I paused to try to think what to say next, without sounding stupid.

“But what?”

I took a deep breath.

“I don't know what I'm doing... I've never done it before. Could you teach me?”

He looked at me like he couldn't tell whether I was joking or serious.

“You mean Peeta didn't show you?” he asked.

“No.” I replied, blushing. “Even though we had sex that one time, we never fooled around like that.”

“Sorry.” he apologized, kissing me lightly. “I just always assumed, from what I saw during the Games, that you two had been a lot more intimate.”

“Well, I kind of _had_ to make everyone believe that, if there was going to be any chance of both of us surviving the arena.” I explained. “But besides getting us out of there alive, my great acting skills also got me something else from the capitol, that will benefit you too, Gale.”

“What's that?” he asked curiously.

“Birth control. When I was in the hospital after we won, the doctor came to me with a syringe in his hand, and started explaining how I should have some protection, now that Peeta and I were in love and would be returning home together... he offered me this shot of birth control that lasts a whole year. It's very popular with the girls in the capitol. I wanted to say no, because at that time, I had no plans to have sex with Peeta- or anyone else for that matter- so I felt it was completely pointless, but I had to keep up the act that I was madly in love and couldn't wait to be with him. So I said, 'Sure, great idea. Give me the shot.' So anyway, now I'm protected until next spring. We can have sex as much as we want with no worry of me getting pregnant.”

“That _is_ a good thing. I _was_ a little concerned about having to be careful.” he admitted.

“Well now you can just be concerned with showing me how to pleasure you.” I said.

He reached down to where my hand rested in the crease of his thigh.

“Like this.” he whispered to me, as he took my hand and wrapped it around his shaft, hot and pulsing in my palm, then covered my hand with his own. He gently squeezed my hand around him, and then guided my hand up and down, stroking his length.

“Mmmm” he moaned, smiling. “Your hand feels a lot nicer than my own,” he smirked.

Once I got the hang of it, he let go of my hand, and I kept going.

“Oh, that's good Katniss.” he sighed.

I liked watching his face as I continued my hand motions. His breathing grew quicker as I stroked him, until suddenly he grabbed my hand, stilling it.

“I don't want to come in your hand.” he said breathlessly. “I want to be inside you.”

“I want that too.” I answered.

Gale moved himself on top of me and I parted my legs for him. He slowly entered me, intently watching my face to make sure I wasn't in any pain. I felt pressure and fullness as he gradually advanced a little further, but it wasn't painful like my first time had been. Once he was all the way in, I smiled up at him, then pulled his face down to kiss me, to let him know that I was okay. He began moving inside of me, and I wrapped my arms around him.

“You feel good, Gale.” I told him.

“So do you.” he replied.

He slid in and out of me a bit faster now, my body delighting in the friction he was creating inside of me. He gazed down at me with smoldering eyes, our faces nearly touching. What he was doing to me physically... there was nothing that I could compare it to.

Outside the cabin, I could hear the wind howling and the rain coming down in sheets, slapping against the windows, but in here with Gale I felt safe and protected.

As the pace of our lovemaking quickened, warmed by the fire and the exertion of our movements, our skin grew flushed and sticky with sweat. He was thrusting into me rapidly now, and I was lifting my hips to meet his, so I could feel him as deeply as possible. My fingers dug into his muscular back, pulling his chest tightly to mine.

 _“Katniss,”_ he moaned into the side of my neck.

“Make me come, Gale.” I pleaded, breathy and urgent.

“Wrap your legs around my waist.” he said into my ear.

I did as he instructed, and suddenly it was like he'd hit a new pleasure spot inside of me.

“Ohh!” I cried out in ecstasy. I felt all my muscles tighten around him as he continued sinking his length into me over and over, until my body released with a spectacular orgasm that left me shaking and wailing with delirious satisfaction that I never wanted to end. After seeing and hearing my climax, Gale could no longer hold himself back, and he surrendered to his own release, spilling himself inside of me with a loud groan, his mouth pressed against my shoulder.

Once we finished, we lay there together on the quilt, with no words necessary to fill the quiet of the room. The only sound was the crackling of the dwindling fire, the rain pouring down on the roof, and our breathing as it slowed from our post-orgasmic panting to a slow, rhythmic lull as we drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

A few hours later, I was being pulled from my drowsy slumber state by strong arms scooping me up from where I was laying on the floor. As my brain swam through the clouded haze of sleep towards consciousness, I realized that I was cold and shivering. The fire had gone out while we slept, and we were both still naked. I felt Gale pick me up, wrapped in his quilt, and he carried me bridal-style across his arms and lay me down gently in his bed. I never opened my eyes, but I smiled when I felt him snuggle up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling the quilt up over us both. The rain was still tapping a soothing pattern on the roof, and within minutes, I fell back to sleep, warm once again in Gale's embrace.


	3. Hunting Partners

The next morning, I woke to the tickle of Gale's lips kissing down my neck.

“Mmmm...” I sighed contentedly, my eyes still closed, a dreamy smile on my face.

“You plan on sleeping all day, beautiful?” he murmured into my ear. I could tell that he'd been awake for a while, and he'd even gotten the fire going in the fireplace again, so it was warm and cozy in the cabin.

“It's not my fault.” I teased. “You wore me out last night.”

“I was hoping you'd wake up nice and rested, so I could wear you out again.”

I started to laugh, but then I felt his talented fingers sneak down between my legs and begin to work their magic. I was _definitely_ awake now... and so was my sex drive.

“I could get used to waking up like this,” I smiled, allowing my arousal to spread throughout my body like wildfire as Gale pleasured me.

I turned towards him a little and took his already hard dick in my hand, stroking him slowly. He shifted his pelvis slightly with each stroke of my hand, pushing himself into my grasp.

_“Faster.”_ he urged me in a throaty whisper.

He stopped fingering me, unable to concentrate on what he was doing now that he was so distracted by his enjoyment of me jerking him off. I kept up the faster pace for a few minutes, letting him get good and worked up, but I wasn't going to finish him off this way though. I had other things in mind.

I stopped stroking him, but kept my hand there as I shifted myself on top of his body, straddling his hips and without a word, guided him inside of me. The look on his face was a mixture of surprise and delight.

“Did you think I was going to let you have all the fun?” I smirked as I sat on top of him. I started leisurely moving myself up and down, until he was almost all the way out of me and then sinking back down onto him again. Gale's eyes were transfixed, staring between my legs and watching as I deliberately rode him in slow motion. His hands held onto my hips, pulling me back down every time I lifted myself up.

“Do you like watching me ride you?” I asked in a teasing tone of voice.

“I love it.” he replied. “Watching you take control is _very_ sexy.”

I found that _being_ in control was very sexy. I liked riding Gale, feeling his hands sliding up and down over my thighs, my stomach, my breasts, while I controlled the pace of our movements, seeing the pure lust in his eyes as he gazed hungrily at my naked body on top of his.

I traced my fingertips up his well-defined abs to his pecs.

“You are _all... mine._ ” I said, my palms pressing possessively against his chest.

“Yes,” he answered, grabbing firmly onto my ass with both hands. “And you are _all mine._ ”

I maintained my unhurried movements, clenching my muscles tight around Gale as I lifted myself off of him, and then took his entire length back inside me again and again.

“Ah, fuck, Katniss!” he groaned, throwing his head back, drowning in delectation from my tortuously slow ride. His fingers dug into my backside.

“Faster!” he begged, “Please go faster!”

I increased my speed a bit.

“Tell me you want me, Gale.” I demanded.

“I want you... I want you _so bad..._ ” he moaned amorously. “I want you to ride me _hard._ ”

I began moving faster, and I felt his hands grasp my hips in encouragement. I rode him like that for a few minutes, feeling euphoric with the control I had over him right now.

“Come here. Lean forward.” he panted, moving his hands up my back and pulling me down until our chests were pressed together. He held me tight to him, and thrust himself up into me fervently as I rocked back and forth. I whimpered with enjoyment of feeling him at this new angle, driving himself deeply into me at a rapid, relentless pace.

_“Oh, Gale... Gale...”_ I sighed, my breath warm on the side of his neck.

Finally our movements reached a crescendo and I came first, orgasmic pleasure exploding throughout my body as all my inner muscles tightened and twitched around Gale, bringing him to the edge of climax. Our enthusiastic moans of gratification blended together as he pushed up into me a few last times before releasing himself deep inside me.

“ _Wow,_ that was good!” he said, once he was able to catch his breath again. “Are you _sure_ you only had sex once before me? Because _that_...you riding me like that... it was _so_ _hot!”_

“Yes, I'm positive!” I laughed. “It must be because you are such a good teacher.” I said, kissing him softly. “Plus I like making you feel good.”

“Well, you certainly do that well.” he smiled, holding me close and caressing his hand over my back.

As I lay there snuggled with Gale, my cheek pressed to his shoulder, I began to notice that it smelled really good in here, like something sweet and spicy, and my stomach let out a loud hungry growl.

“Hungry?” he laughed.

“Famished! What smells so good- are you cooking something?”

“While you were sleeping, I put some apples in the cooking pot to roast over the fire. I sprinkled them with some of the cinnamon and sugar you gave me.” he said.

I had forgotten that I gave Gale some cinnamon and sugar after I'd won the Games. I'd had it for the first time in the capitol and had fallen in love with having it on everything in the mornings. It added so much flavor to the bland foods I was used to eating at home, like plain toast or oatmeal. With my winnings, I bought a big jar before I left the capitol, and I couldn't wait to share it with my best friend when I got back.

“Wow, you can hunt, you're gorgeous, you're great in bed, and you cook too? You're a keeper, Gale!” I teased.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes at me.

“Come on, let's go eat. Your clothes are all dry, I folded them and put them on top of the dresser for you... if you _want_ to get dressed, that is. If you want to have breakfast naked, I won't mind the view.” he said with a flirty, lopsided grin.

“I think I'll get dressed, thank you.” I giggled, as I rolled off of him and put my feet on the floor.

We both got ourselves dressed, but he was done much faster than me because all he did was throw on a pair of pants and a shirt, while I took a few extra minutes to put myself together, even braiding my hair so I looked presentable. When I joined Gale in his kitchen area, I smiled at how adorable he looked, standing there in his bare feet with messy, just-got-laid hair and two mugs of hot tea in his hands.

“Here, bring these over by the fire, will you?” he said, handing them to me. “I'll be right over with the rest.”

I sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace, where we had made love last night, and took a sip of my tea.

I liked being here with Gale. I wished that I could fall asleep with him and wake up next to him every day. I hoped that one day, that would be a reality.

Gale walked over and joined me on the floor, setting down two bowls of oatmeal, each topped with a big pile of sweet roasted apple cut into bite size pieces, soft and steaming hot, with cinnamon and sugar all over it.

“Sorry it's not very exciting,” he said, handing me my bowl.

“Are you kidding? This smells fantastic!” I said enthusiastically. I took a bite, and it was delicious- like eating warm apple pie for breakfast.

“Oh, Gale, this is _so yummy!_ ” I mumbled with my mouth half full.

“Glad you like it.” he beamed.

I shoveled down my entire bowl in record time, which wasn't very ladylike, but I couldn't help it.

“Wow, I guess you _were_ hungry!” Gale remarked, as he scraped the last spoonful from his own bowl.

“You worked up my appetite.” I said flirtatiously, as I crawled over next to his side. I leaned in, intending to kiss him, but instead he held out his spoon to me with his last bite of warm apple. I graciously accepted the delicious spoonful, and then Gale planted a soft kiss on my lips.

“I love you,” he whispered, stroking his fingers softly across my cheek.

“I love you too.” I whispered back.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked, running his fingers down my braid.

“We should probably hunt.”

Gale nodded. “Okay, we'll go hunting. Let me just finish getting dressed.”

While he got ready, I took our bowls and mugs outside and washed them in a basin of water that Gale had brought up earlier from the nearby river. The rain had ended sometime before dawn, and now the sun was out and it looked like it was going to be a lovely day, much warmer than yesterday. Shortly after I finished the dishes, we headed out into the woods to hunt. We set out several snares to try to catch rabbits, then walked around the woods, looking for any other prey we could find. After two hours with no luck, Gale turned to me and said, “This is boring.”

I'd never known him to be so impatient while hunting. Usually he could outlast me at waiting for prey.

“Well, what would you like to do?” I asked.

A huge, wickedly mischievous grin crept onto his face, as he approached me and put his hands on my waist.

“It's too soon to check the snares just yet. There are other things we could do in the great outdoors to pass the time besides walking around looking for squirrels and birds.”

He took my hand and pressed it to the front of his pants, where he was already half hard for me.

“Really, Gale? Already?” I laughed.

“I can't stop thinking about this morning... you riding me... I'd love a repeat performance.”

_“Here?”_

“Why not? There's no one around for miles. And I'm dying to hear you moaning my name again.”

I thought about it for a moment, while Gale pulled me closer and started raining soft kisses down the side of my neck. He _sure_ knew how to be persuasive.

“Okay, you win,” I giggled. “Let's play.”

We made quick work of undressing each other, and Gale laid down his pants on the ground for us to sit on, in front of a tree. He sat down with his back leaning against the tree, and pulled me into his lap facing him. He grabbed onto my ass with both hands and pulled me tight up against his body, then started gradually grinding his hardness against my center, holding me in place so I was feeling the pressure and friction of his subtle movements in just the right spot. At the same time, he leaned his face forward and began sensually licking one of my nipples, circling and teasing it with his tongue.

_“Yes,”_ I breathed, feeling the warmth of arousal coursing through my veins. He continued his motions, and within minutes, I could feel that his shaft was now slick with my wetness. I lifted myself up just enough for him to slide inside of me, eliciting a moan of delight from Gale.

He kept his hands firmly on my behind, guiding me up and down on him until we found a comfortable rhythm together. I didn't bother trying to tease and torture him this time. We just moved together as one, reveling in the pleasure of each others' bodies. He stared with dark, lust-filled eyes at my breasts bouncing in front of his face as I rode him.

All at once, I felt Gale climax, his ab muscles contracting sharply as he thrust himself forcefully up into me, his fingers digging into my backside. I was close, but not quite there yet, so I continued riding him. He decided to help me along by sliding his hand down between my legs and stroking me gently with his thumb. The sensation of having him inside of me _and_ pleasuring me on the outside simultaneously was extraordinary.

“Oh, _yes_ , Gale!” I moaned enthusiastically.

“You like that?” he purred.

I couldn't even respond, I was so out of breath and close to orgasm, but the answer was written all over my face.

Finally I came with a loud moan, and then I collapsed against Gale's chest with the exhaustion of release. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tenderly while I rested against him, catching my breath.

“We should have started hunting this way a long time ago. Getting naked with you is so much more fun than stalking squirrels!” Gale said.

“If we'd been doing this before, then our families would have starved to death for sure!” I retorted. “Speaking of which, we might as well go check on the snares. We aren't managing to get anything else done.”

“Sure we are!” he countered. “We're having fun together. Enjoying each others' company.” Then he took my face in both of his hands and gazed at me. “And we're making up for lost time. I don't know how I could have been so blind for so long, that I didn't know how much I loved you until someone else was kissing you.”

“Better late than never.” I smiled at him, then gave him a kiss before climbing out of his lap. “Come on, get up and get dressed. Let's go see if we've caught anything.”

We threw our clothes back on, and began the long walk back to where we had the snares set up. Along the way, I managed to shoot a plump wild turkey with my bow, and I told Gale to bring it to his mother for his siblings. My family didn't need it as badly as his, since I had money now from winning, so I usually gave anything I caught to the Hawthornes. Even though Gale's pride often caused him to protest my offers, most of the time he would end up giving in because keeping his siblings fed generally won out over his stubbornness. When we got back to our starting point, we found that we had caught two rabbits as well, so Gale kept one and insisted I take the other.

“Guess it turned out to be a pretty good day of hunting after all!” he said, “Even with our taking a little time off for some fun.”

We walked together back through the fence and towards the edge of town, until it was time for us to part ways.

“If it's a nice day tomorrow, do you want to go have a picnic together?” I asked him.

“Anything you want.” he answered, kissing me once, and then again. “As long as we're together, I'm happy.”

“Okay, well I'll meet you at your house tomorrow then.” I said. “Tell your mom I said hi!”

“I will.” he agreed, then kissed me goodbye about ten times before we finally tore ourselves apart and went our separate ways.


	4. You And Rainstorms

Before going back to my house to clean and cook my rabbit for dinner, I decided to go into town and get some candy for Prim. I picked her out a few handfuls of hard candies, then I decided to stop by the Hob to see if I could find another gift for her. Now that I had money from my winnings, every now and then I would buy her a dress or a pair of shoes so that she could have something that was new to her, not just a tattered hand me down that had been mine first. I wandered around until I found a woman selling clothing. Amongst her piles of clothes, I managed to find a dress for Prim in a pretty checkered pattern that I thought she would like.

When I brought it up to the woman, ready to pay for my purchase, she suggested, “What about a dress for you?”

She pulled a hanger off of a rack with a sundress on it. It was a simple knee length dress with buttons down the bodice in a cream color cotton printed with little yellow daisies all over it. Like Prim's dress, I knew that it had been worn by someone else, but they both looked practically brand new.

“I bet this is just your size.” the woman said to me, holding it up in front of me.

I was never one for wearing girly clothes unless I had to, but I could tell from the woman's own shabby clothes she wore that selling these two dresses to me would probably enable her to feed her family for two weeks, and I wanted to help her. Besides, the dress _was_ pretty. I thought of Gale, and how surprised he would be to see me wearing a dress. I wondered if he would like it.

“Okay, I'll take them both.” I said, handing her slightly more than her asking price, and I told her to keep the change.

When I got home, I tried on my dress and found that it fit perfectly. I hung it in my closet, hoping that tomorrow would be a nice enough day that I could wear it for Gale. We were only planning on having a picnic anyway, not doing any hunting, so it would be a perfect opportunity to wear it.

I woke up the next morning with the sun in my eyes, feeling hot and uncomfortable in my bed. I untangled myself from the sheet and blanket and threw them off. The day had dawned sunny, hot and humid... “Indian Summer” my mom called it, the last brief spell of warm days during the transition from summer to fall before the weather stays cool once and for all. With my window wide open, the humidity had crept in overnight leaving it feeling sticky in my room. It was hard to believe that it had been so cold just a couple nights ago when I'd gone to Gale's house in the rainstorm and we had needed the fire to stay warm. There would certainly be no problem staying warm today.

I showered and put on the flowered sundress, then went downstairs to pack my picnic.

“Oh, good, you're up.” my mom said as she heard me bounding down the stairs. Then she caught sight of me as I entered the kitchen. “And you're wearing a dress?”

“Well, I bought it yesterday... I thought it was pretty.” I stammered.

“Where are you off to today?” she asked. “I need you to run an errand for me in town.”

“I'm going to have a picnic with Gale.”

“You've been spending a lot of time with Gale lately.” my mom commented.

“I guess.” I replied, eager to change the subject. The less she knew about my relationship with Gale, the better.

“What do you need in town?”

“I need you to pick up some more bandaging supplies and I need you to stop by the Mellarks' bakery and get me some bread for dinner.”

My heart dropped. I did _not_ feel like running into Peeta today.

“Why can't Prim do those things for you, Mom? I have plans!”

“Because I don't want her going into town by herself!” she said. “So I suggest you get going if you don't want to miss your plans with Gale.”

I grumbled to myself, grabbed one of the apples out of the bowl on the counter to eat on the way, and headed out the door to get this overwith.

I picked up her bandaging supplies first, since that was the easy part. I was hoping and praying as I walked towards the bakery that Peeta wouldn't be there, but as I entered the bakery, I found that there would be no such luck.

“Oh, Katniss! It's good to see you.” Peeta said brightly.

“Hi Peeta. Umm...I need a loaf of bread please. Actually, make it two loaves.” I said, figuring that since I was here, I might as well get some to bring on my picnic.

“You look nice. I don't think I've ever seen you wear a dress... well, not by your own choice anyway.” he remarked with a nervous laugh.

“Thanks.” I replied. I wished that I didn't feel so awkward right now. I also wished that I wasn't wearing this dress in front of him.

“Is it for Gale?” he asked quietly, with a forced smile on his face.

“The bread?”

“No, the dress. I figure you must be wearing it for someone, and I'm pretty sure it's not for me.” he said with a note of sadness in his voice, as he wrapped up my loaves of bread in a paper bag.

“Peeta, I-”

He held up his hand, to stop my explanation.

“It's okay, you don't need to explain. You can't force yourself to feel something that you don't. A man can only ask for so many miracles in one lifetime. You've already given me one- you saved my life. I really can't ask you for another.”

“I do care about you.” I admitted. “I'm sorry I hurt you, and I would like if we could be friends.”

“I'd like that too.” he said as he came around the counter and handed me the paper bag. I paid him for the bread, then we briefly gave each other a polite hug before I turned to leave.

“Tell your mom and Prim I said hello.” he called after me. I nodded and smiled at him, then walked out the door.

When I got home and emptied the bag, I found that he had thrown in two of my favorite cheese rolls when he'd been behind the counter. I would have felt terribly guilty sharing this little gift with Gale, so I ate one and I gave Prim the other.

I gave my mom the supplies she asked for, then packed my picnic lunch and headed for Gale's house.

“Wow!” he exclaimed when he opened his door to let me in. “You look _hot_ in that dress!”

“Thanks,” I laughed. “Are you ready to go? I thought maybe we could go have our picnic under that apple tree we found.”

“Sounds good to me.” he agreed.

We walked the long way out to the small group of apple trees on the other side of the woods. There were a lot of apples that had fallen to the ground during the wind and rain storm we had the other night, so we picked up several that weren't damaged and piled them into our picnic basket with the rest of our food.

After we ate our lunch, we lay sprawled out on the grass together in the shade underneath the tree. We both lay on our backs, me laying one direction and Gale laying at a 90 degree angle to me with his head resting on my stomach, so our bodies made a “T” shape. I was softly running my fingers through his hair, enjoying how happy and relaxed I felt with him.

He turned onto his side and faced me, his cheek pressed to my belly, giving me a mischievous grin. He reached one hand up and started caressing his way up my arm, then down my chest until he was gently cupping my breast over my dress. He slowly traced his fingers over it, until he could see the bump of my now erect nipple through the thin cotton.

He propped himself up a little and began unbuttoning the front of my dress, then delicately moved the fabric aside so my whole chest was revealed to him. He took both of my breasts in his hands, then brought his mouth to them, kissing one and then the other. He briefly tore himself away for a moment so he could pull off his own shirt in one fluid movement, then returned his attention to my chest, while I lovingly moved my hand up and down his back.

After a few minutes of that, he turned himself over again onto his other side, so that now he was facing my legs, which were bent at the knees with my bare feet on the ground. I felt Gale reach up to the hem of my dress and begin sliding it down my thighs and then pulling it up to my hips so my lower half was completely exposed to nature. I grinned when I heard and felt Gale gasp, because I knew what he was surprised to see.

“You aren't wearing any panties underneath your dress, you naughty girl!” he breathed in a low, raspy voice.

I felt his fingers slide down between my legs and begin stroking me. I could already feel myself getting wet with excitement. But just as my pleasure started escalating, he stopped and pulled his hand away.

I whimpered my disappointment. Gale chuckled at me.

“Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you.” he assured me.

He moved himself down so that he was between my knees, and he spread my legs.

“I think you'll like this.” he purred, his voice as thick and sweet as honey.

Before I could even imagine what he was about to do, he lowered his face down and I felt his tongue, hot and wet, where his fingers had just been.

“Oh!” I cried out, at the new and delightful sensation.

He moved his tongue around, alternating in slow and fast movements. I'd never felt anything like this before, and he was right, I _definitely_ liked it. I looked down and watched him, entranced by what he could do with his mouth. Gale certainly knew how to pleasure a woman.

There was something so exhilarating about being naked like this out in nature with him down between my legs pleasuring me. Then just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any more amazing, he slid a finger inside of me and began moving it in and out at the same time while he worked his magic with his tongue. I couldn't take it anymore. I moaned loudly as Gale brought me to my climax and shudders of pleasure rippled through my body.

He crawled back up next to me as I lay there catching my breath. He draped his arm over my waist.

“So, did you like it?” he asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, I guess it was okay.” I teased back. “Now let's see if I can do as well for you.”

I wriggled out of my dress, since I was pretty much naked already anyway, then got onto my hands and knees by his side and removed his shorts and boxers. He was already hard and standing at attention for me, before I'd even touched him. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I figured that pleasuring him with my mouth couldn't be too different of a technique from pleasuring him with my hand.

“Tell me if there's something you want me to do differently.” I said, and he nodded.

I got down between his legs and took him into my mouth, a little bit at first, then slowly deeper. I could tell that the deeper I took him, the more he liked it. His hands cradled the back of my head, encouraging me to continue what I was doing.

“Use your tongue a little more. Move it around on me while you're sucking.” he suggested.

I did as he asked and got an immediate response.

 _“Yes,”_ he sighed, “just like that.”

I felt him thrust his hips forward a little, pushing himself further into my mouth, and I figured I must be doing it right.

“Now go a little faster.” he instructed, and I did. “Ah, fuck, Katniss, that's good.” he moaned.

I continued what I was doing for several more minutes, feeling happy that I could make him feel as much enjoyment as he gave to me.

“Stop if you don't want me to come in your mouth.” he warned me breathlessly, but I didn't stop. Instead I sucked him even harder.

 _“Yes!”_ he exclaimed in a low groan through gritted teeth, as I felt and tasted the warmth of his fluid filling my mouth. I swallowed it down as fast as I could so I wouldn't taste it much.

“So how was that?” I asked when I pulled my mouth away from him.

“Pretty fucking good for a first time.” he panted.

I crawled back up alongside him and snuggled up to him, draping my arm and leg across his body. We rested together like that for a few minutes, both of us with our eyes closed, lost in each others' heartbeat, not caring one bit that we were completely naked out in the wide open woods.

Just then we heard the low rumble of thunder nearby. We simultaneously opened our eyes and looked out at the sky beyond the branches of the apple tree. We had been so caught up in what we were doing that we hadn't noticed how dark the sky had gotten with ominous storm clouds.

“Shit,” Gale said. “We'd better pack up and get going, it looks like a storm is coming.”

We quickly got dressed and threw everything back in our picnic basket and started hightailing it for Gale's house. We were walking as fast as we could, but we were a long way from home, and the thunder sounded like it was getting closer with every rumble. Lightning started flashing in the sky. Before we were even halfway there, the sky opened up and it began to pour. We shrieked with laughter, and at first we tried running through the woods towards home, but soon it became evident that it was futile. The storm was upon us, and we were going to have to stop and take cover until the worst of it passed over. We stopped under a large birch tree, both of us out of breath and soaking wet after our sprint through the rain. We were still getting rained on, but at least we were getting less wet under the cover of the birch's canopy of leaves.

“What is it with you and rainstorms?” he asked me with a wicked grin, as he set down the picnic basket and put his hands on my waist, taking me by surprise by slowly pushing me backwards until my back was pressed up against the trunk of the tree. “Don't you know how sexy you look when you're dripping wet? Especially in this thin little light colored dress?”

I looked down at myself and quickly understood what had gotten Gale so hot and bothered all of a sudden. Now that my dress was sopping wet from the rain, it was also completely see through. The fabric clung like a second skin to my body, showing the pink of my nipples, the indentation of my belly button, and the dark hair between my legs.

As he moved himself in closer to me, I lifted one of my legs and hooked it around his hip, and he grabbed onto my thigh, holding it tight against his body. I could feel how hard he already was for me as he pressed our bodies together, grinding himself against me.

I found myself face to face with Gale, who was looking at me, his eyes burning with intensity. I suddenly felt a little intimidated by the insatiable desire that I saw in Gale's eyes, but in a good way... it made me feel curious and daring.

“Tell me what you want Gale.” I breathed into his ear.

“I want to fuck you so hard right now.” he growled as he rushed to unbutton the top of my dress as fast as he could, exposing my wet breasts and fondling them roughly.

I liked this rough side of Gale. It was wild, untamed, uninhibited.

“Take me.” I told him. “Right here. Fuck me like you want to.”

For a moment, he hungrily sucked on the side of my neck, still grinding his hardness between my legs, but then without warning, he quickly dropped to his knees, taking my leg that had been up on his hip, and draping it over his shoulder instead, throwing my dress out of his way. He thrust his tongue between my legs and into my entrance. I gasped with the feel of his tongue entering me, then working his way to my clit. He pleasured me like before, but this time much faster and more forceful. I moaned loudly, reveling in the raw animalistic pleasure that he was giving me.

As soon as he decided I was wet enough down there, he stood up, whipped off his shirt, dropped his shorts and scooped me up under my bottom, lifting me up with my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. He leaned my back into the smooth white bark of the tree trunk and slid himself into me.

Gale groaned loudly as he entered me. He grasped my ass with both hands while he pounded himself into me with reckless abandon, making guttural noises with each upward thrust.

All around us, the storm raged on. The thunder rumbled, shaking the ground, sometimes drowning out the loud sounds we were making during our rough sex. The rain was falling hard and fast, soaking both of us even through the tree leaves, but it was so hot and humid out that it actually felt refreshing. Our hair was matted, water running down our faces and chests to where our bodies were joined as one.

He continued fucking me hard against the tree, his eyes wild with lust like I'd never seen. His movements against me were aggressive and forceful but never painful. He wanted me to feel nothing but deep and limitless pleasure.

I clung tightly to him, digging my fingernails into his back as I felt my muscles tightening, my climax quickly approaching.

“Fuck me Gale!” I begged. _“Harder!”_

A few more rapid thrusts, and I was moaning uncontrollably into his shoulder, my body trembling as wave after wave of orgasmic release crashed over me.

 _“Gale! Gale!”_ I practically shouted into the wind as he drove up into me one last time, unloading himself inside of me with spasms of ecstasy.

 _“Yes, Katniss, yes...”_ he sighed, our bodies finally sated and motionless against the tree. “My God, that was _so fucking good._ ”

With my legs still wrapped around his waist and him still inside of me, Gale turned away from the tree and carefully lowered us both down to the ground, laying himself down on his back with me on top of him in the wet grass. The rain still fell down on us, but by now it had slowed to a light sprinkle.

I stayed there on top of him, with my face pressed sleepily into the side of his neck for a long time, our skin wet and stuck together. We were both totally spent and exhausted, but immensely fulfilled. Eventually we finally separated ourselves and put our wet clothes back on for the rest of the walk home to Gale's house.

By the time we got there, the storm had passed and the sun had come back out, so we hung our clothes outside to dry.

“Here, why don't you put your favorite shirt on,” Gale teased as he threw at me his gray shirt that I had worn the other night when I'd walked to his house in the rainstorm. Just like that night, I put it on without anything underneath.

“I think you just like seeing me wearing nothing but your shirt.” I said, approaching him as he pulled on a pair of dry shorts. I hooked my fingers into the waist of his shorts.

“I could get used to it.” he grinned, leaning down to kiss me. “Are you hungry? Because I'm starved!”

I nodded, then we raided what was left in our picnic basket. Fortunately most of what we brought had been packed in airtight containers, so even though the basket was soaking wet, the food inside was still good. We ate some bread and cheese and fruit, and by then my dress that had been hung outside in the warm late afternoon sun was dry again, so I put it back on, reluctantly realizing that I should probably get home soon.

While Gale walked me home, he asked me, “Katniss, if it's hot out again tomorrow, do you want to go swimming in the river?”

“Yes, I think that sounds great!” I agreed.

Any chance to see him glistening wet and wearing very little clothing sounded fantastic to me.

“I'll come by and get you in the morning.” he told me. He kissed me goodbye at my front door.

“See you tomorrow!” I called out as he turned to leave.

I was already counting the minutes until morning.


	5. Bound To Trust Him

I was happy when I woke the next morning and saw that it was hot and sunny again today, just like yesterday. I was looking forward to swimming today, because it would probably be one of the last unseasonably warm days. Soon the crisp, cool days of early autumn would be back for good, and there would be no more swimming until next year.

I threw on my swimsuit underneath my shorts and t-shirt, took a couple of towels out of the linen closet, then went downstairs to have breakfast. I made myself some tea and toast with raspberry jam, and sat down on one of the barstools at the long breakfast counter in the kitchen. I was only a few bites in when I heard Gale knocking at the door.

“You're early!” I smiled, as I let him in. “I wasn't expecting you for a while yet.”

“I couldn't wait.” he smirked back at me.

“I was just having some toast and jam, you want some?”

“Sure.”

I made Gale some toast and jam, and then we sat together at the counter eating.

My mom and Prim came downstairs, each carrying an overnight bag and looking like they were flustered and in a hurry.

“What's going on?” I asked between bites of my toast.

My mom answered, “I have to go to the other side of the district overnight. I just got word that there was a fire in one of the mines and about a dozen men have burns that need immediate treatment until a doctor can get there. I'm taking Prim with me because it will be good for her to learn how to treat burns.”

The whole time she talked, she never stopped moving, packing her bag with bandaging supplies, sterilized water, pain relievers, aloe extract and healing ointments.

“Katniss, I need you to stay here and take care of Buttercup and Lady while we're gone.”

“What? I don't want to be here all alone overnight!”

“Please just do it, okay? I don't want Prim to worry about them.”

Then I got an idea. “Well if I have to stay, can Gale stay with me? I'll feel better not being alone in the house. You know I have nightmares.”

My mom stopped for a second and shot me that look, that _'you're an adult now and I don't have time to deal with this nonsense'_ look.

“Fine, whatever. If it makes you feel safer, Gale can stay over. There's extra sheets and towels in the linen closet. Just take care of the animals, okay!”

I looked at Gale with my eyebrows raised in surprise. I didn't think she'd go for that idea so easily. Apparently she was less suspicious of our relationship than I thought. Either that, or she was just opting to not deal with it, which was also a possibility. Either way was fine with me.

“Come on, Prim, we need to go.” she said. I went over and hugged Prim goodbye and wished her luck.

“Don't forget to feed the animals.” Prim told me, glancing over at Gale and then back to me. I was pretty sure that Prim had a sneaking suspicion that we were more than just friends.

“Did I ever forget to feed _you,_ Little Duck?”

“No.”

“Okay then. Don't worry, I promise I'll take care of them for you. Now go!” I said with a smile.

The two of them rushed out the door, and Gale and I were left alone in the kitchen. I turned to him and gave him a huge grin.

“Hope you don't have plans for the night, because we're having a sleepover.”

“Oh, you are a _bad, bad_ girl Katniss Everdeen.” he said slowly. “You are afraid to stay here alone? You're not afraid of anything.”

“I didn't say I was _afraid_ , I said I'd _feel better_ if you were with me. Which is true. You always make me feel better.”

“Mmm-hmm.” he said. “So I guess I'll just be here as your bodyguard, staying in the guest bedroom?” he asked sarcastically.

“If you're going to be my bodyguard, then you're going to have to be a whole lot closer to my body than that.” I replied, moving in to give him a kiss. “Like preferably, on top of it.”

“How about _inside_ of it? Would that be close enough?” he asked, pulling me into his lap and kissing me.

“Yes, I think I'd like that.” I answered between kisses. “But that's for later. First let's go swimming! We might not have another warm day like this, so I don't want to miss it!”

I jumped off of his lap, finished my last few sips of tea, put out fresh cat food for Buttercup and then ran outside for a minute to feed Lady.

“Okay, let's go!” I said, grabbing Gale by the hand.

He carried our towels, and we headed off to the river, which was about halfway between our two houses. When we got there, I quickly stripped off my shirt and shorts I had over my swimsuit and ran down to the water's edge.

“Come on, Gale!” I shouted.

“Geez, so bossy!” he said back, as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, wading into the water in just his shorts.

“You haven't even seen how bossy I can be.” I smirked at him, as I walked up to him, reached my arms up around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

He lifted me up underneath my bottom and I wrapped my legs around his waist. The water in this part of the river was only about four feet deep, so Gale quickly turned and sat down on a low rock, plunging us both almost chest deep into the water with me sitting on his lap facing him.

“Aaaaaah!” I shrieked from the sudden coldness of the water on my body.

He laughed heartily at my reaction.

“Well, that ought to cool off my bossy girl on fire for a few minutes.”

“I doubt I'll be staying cool for very long, since I've got your hot body between my legs.” I shot back.

“Hmmm. Always mouthy too.” he replied. “Good thing I know how to take back control.”

I felt Gale's hand reach down between my legs, move aside the fabric of my swimsuit and start rubbing me softly with his fingers.

 _“Ooooh,”_ I breathed, as my body reacted to the pleasure of his touch.

He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, trying not to laugh, “Well, _that_ shut you up, didn't it, sweetie?”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“So _that's_ how you want to play, hmm?” I teased.

I reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped his shorts, freeing Gale's huge hard-on. I wrapped my hand around him and started stroking him, causing him to moan involuntarily.

“Try to stay in control now, smartass.” I said, grinning at him.

“I bet I can still get you off first.” he challenged me.

“Go ahead and try.”

He leaned in and kissed me, his tongue exploring my mouth while his fingers explored my entrance. I couldn't help but move my hips around as I enjoyed him fingering me. As it was, it took all my willpower not to moan into his mouth that was still kissing mine. I felt his free hand sneak up behind my neck to where the straps of my swimsuit were tied in a bow, and he gently tugged at the end of the tie until the knot let go. Then he pulled down the front of my suit, revealing my chest, cupping my breast with one hand and bringing his mouth down to my nipple, all the while still fingering me down below with his other hand.

Oh, Gale was _good_ at this game.

I tried to clear my head from the lust filled trance he'd put me into, and concentrated my efforts on pleasuring him with both hands, stroking him firmly with one hand, and sensually caressing the rest of his anatomy with the other. I could tell by the way that he was thrusting himself into the firm grip of my hand that he liked what I was doing.

“How are you doing now, Gale? Still hanging in there?” I breathed into his ear.

“Never better.” he answered in a strained voice, then returned his tongue to licking and sucking on my nipple.

We both continued pleasuring each other, our pulses racing, our breathing rapid and erratic, our bodies hot despite the cool river water swirling swiftly around us and between us.

I began to feel my tension mounting as I got closer to orgasm. I tried to back away a little, hoping for just a moment's reprieve from Gale's expert manipulation so I could slow my escalation and outlast him. I didn't want him to win the game. Even in something as stupid as this, I couldn't help but be a fierce competitor. But he knew what I was up to, and he wasn't about to let me get away with it. Instead he moved his hand that had been cupping my bosom and moved it down to grab onto my ass cheek under my swimsuit. He grasped me firmly and held me in place so I couldn't move, forcing me to feel every motion of his fingers on me and in me, causing my pleasure to spiral out of control, and just like that, I lost the game. I came with an amazing orgasm, moaning loudly and quivering around Gale's fingers.

When I finally opened my eyes and looked at him, he had a huge, victorious grin across his face.

“Don't you _dare_ say 'I told you so'.” I warned him.

“Who me? Never.” he said breathlessly.

I turned my attention to finishing him off, stroking him fervently until he shuddered and came in my hand, his warm seed seeping through my fingers and floating away between us on the current of the water.

“Ahh, thank you.” he sighed. “That was fun.”

“You're welcome.” I said, pulling the front of my swimsuit back up and tying it behind my neck.

“Even if you _didn't_ win, just like I said you wouldn't.” he gloated, as he zipped and buttoned his shorts.

“Grrr!” I growled at him playfully, slapping the water and splashing him in the face.

In a flash, he quickly picked me up and launched off the rock we had been sitting on, plunging us both under the water for a second before popping back up, laughing.

“Come here, you bossy, competitive pain in my ass.” he smiled, standing up and pulling me close to him for a kiss.

“Am I really that bad?” I giggled. “Yes, you are. But I wouldn't have you any other way. Your fire and independence are sexy.”

I smiled at his sweet compliment.

“Well, that _and_ your perfect boobs!” he quipped.

“Oh, _Gale!_ ” I exclaimed, playfully shoving him, so that he fell backwards into the water. Then he reached up, grabbed my hand and pulled me down into the water with him.

We spent the rest of the day swimming and splashing around, sometimes walking hand in hand down the rivers' edge jumping from rock to rock, sometimes lying on the grassy riverbank together, drying off in the sun before jumping back in to cool off again.

When the sun started getting lower in the sky, we walked out to Gale's house so he could get some clothes and pajamas for the night. He quickly packed a few things in a bag, and then we made our way back to Victor's Village.

By the time we got back to my house in the late afternoon just before sunset, we were tired and hungry. I reheated some leftovers I had in the refrigerator and we ate our dinner snuggled on the couch together, watching some stupid show on TV. As my mind wandered, I couldn't help but wonder if this was weird for Gale, being here in this big house with modern amenities. It was like we lived in different centuries. I know it had taken me a while to get used to living like this...to have hot water just flow from a tap, and to have light with just the flick of a switch. Yet I found that when I was at Gale's house, I had no trouble transitioning back to my old way of life, to a lifestyle that was rustic and primitive. One day, I would have to ask him about it. But right now I was too tired to have that discussion, and even though it was only early evening, I just wanted to go to bed. Being out in the sun and water all day had left me exhausted.

I dragged myself off the couch, fed Buttercup and Lady, and then took Gale's hand and led him upstairs to my room.

“What? No guest room for me?” he teased.

“Tonight you are _my_ guest, and that means in _my_ bed.” I answered, handing him his overnight bag. “Here, put your pajamas on.”

“Always _so_ bossy!” he muttered under his breath with a chuckle, as he turned away from me and dropped his shorts to the floor. I took the opportunity to give him a good swift slap on his bare ass.

He shook his head, pulled his shirt off, and then turned to face me in all his glorious nakedness. I bit my lip in nervous excitement, as he stared me down intensely with dark desire in his eyes.

“I see that you didn't learn your lesson today about relinquishing control once in a while.” he said smoothly, the slightly turned up corners of his mouth giving away the frisky mood he was in.

Suddenly the fatigue I'd been feeling downstairs had disappeared, and was replaced by the powerful longing to feel Gale's hands on my body.

“I can't help it. I've spent my whole life being in charge. I'm not good at being submissive.”

“Yes, I know.” he said as he slowly undressed me. “And don't get me wrong, I love your strength and your assertive, take charge attitude. But sometimes it can be just as fun to let go of that control once in a while. Will you let me show you?”

“Yes.” I answered in a whisper.

“Trust me, I'll make sure you enjoy it.” he assured me. “Now lie down on your back on the bed.”

I did as he said, climbing up onto the bed and lying on my back. I watched as he walked over to my closet door and opened it, looking around for something. I was very curious as to what he was looking for. Then I saw him reach up to the hooks at the top of the door and pull down a pretty, floral patterned silk scarf that Effie had given me as a gift for winning the Games. It was beautiful, but I'd never worn it. I didn't really know when I ever would. It wasn't exactly like silk scarves were a common fashion accessory in district 12 the way they were in the capitol. I wondered what Gale planned on doing with it.

He crawled up the bed next to me and told me to close my eyes.

He held the scarf bunched up in his hand, and I felt him start at my foot and slowly skim the cool silky fabric up my leg, over my hip and across my belly, which was very ticklish. Then he caressed the silk ever so lightly over one of my breasts, and then the other. The sensation of the flowing, satiny fabric on my skin was sublime. He continued upward, over my throat and across my lips, then he leaned in and left a feathery soft kiss on my mouth that left me craving more.

I felt both of his hands skim down my arms from my shoulders all the way out to my fingers, then he gently took hold of both my wrists and raised them high up over my head outstretched. Just as he'd done to the rest of my body, he slowly slid the bunched up puff of silk down the inside of one of my arms, from my wrist down to my elbow and then my shoulder, across my upper chest, and then back up the other arm, until he was at my wrists again. Then I felt the silk being wrapped around both of my wrists, binding them together, and then being tied to one of the posts in the center of my headboard, and my eyes flew open as I panicked a little at the thought of being restrained.

“Shhh.” Gale soothed me, cradling my face with both of his hands. “Trust me. Let me pleasure you. If you don't like it, I'll untie you, okay? I promise.”

I nodded. I wanted to trust him completely, and this was the ultimate test for me. Putting my trust in someone else was not easy for me. There were few things in life that terrified me as much as being powerless and vulnerable.

“Close your eyes.” he whispered, and I did. My heart was pounding with a mixture of anticipation, lust, and nervous trepidation.

The first thing I felt was Gale kissing down my neck, while one hand lovingly stroked my cheek and then slid down the front of my throat. He kissed his way down the center of my chest, tracing his fingers in soft circles over one of my breasts, before finally cupping it with his hand and bringing his tongue to my nipple, licking it ever so delicately. He moved to the other breast and did the same, covering it with kisses and gentle strokes of his tongue that made my body ache for him. He gradually moved his way down my abdomen, touching me with his fingers, leaving trails of kisses with his mouth and his tongue. I felt his lips brush over one of my hip bones, and then the other as he continued his descent down my body. My breathing had become rapid and shallow, and I started writhing around slowly as my pleasure built with every inch of my skin that he traversed, silently begging for him to keep going. I could feel my increasing wetness between my legs as he touched me everywhere except where I wanted him most.

I felt him pull away from me for a moment, and I whimpered.

“Are you still doing okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” I answered breathlessly.

“Do you need me to untie you?”

“No.”

“Good.” he replied, before moving his body down so that he was kneeling between my knees. He placed his hands on my thighs and spread my legs apart, and just that alone made me tremble with excitement. He grasped my left ankle and lifted it up to meet his mouth, and he kissed his way up my leg from my ankle to my knee, and up the inside of my thigh. I was writhing my hips around again, burning with desire for him to pleasure me. But he didn't. Instead he gently set down my left leg and started over with my right leg, lifting it up and kissing his way up towards my center.

I couldn't help myself, I started begging and pleading for him to touch me.

_“Please Gale, please touch me!”_

He continued his slow assault on my senses, up my inner thigh until finally, I felt his tongue slide ever so gently up through my folds and over my clit.

 _“Ohhhh!”_ I moaned loudly. I felt like I was going to come right then and there, I was so hypersensitive from the prolonged foreplay and teasing.

He paused for a second or two, to let me relax, and then he brought his mouth back down, pleasuring me again with tantalizingly slow movements of his tongue. I wanted desperately to rake my fingers through his hair, to hold him in place where his tongue felt so good, but I couldn't. My wrists strained against the silkiness of the scarf that kept them bound securely to the headboard. I pulled and pulled, but my efforts were futile. I should have known that Gale, of all people, would know how to keep me trapped if he wanted to.

I moaned and cried out with ecstasy as he kept pleasuring me, until he could tell that I was on the verge of release...and then he stopped.

 _“No! Gale, what are you doing? Please don't stop, please! I'm so close!”_ The words tumbled out of my mouth as if I had no control over them.

He moved himself up over my body until he was lying on top of me, between my legs, propped up on his elbows, our foreheads nearly touching.

“Look at me.” he said softly, and I opened my eyes.

“Do you know how much I love you, Katniss?” he asked, gingerly tracing his fingers down the side of my face, as if he were touching a priceless treasure.

I shook my head.

“More than anything.” he said, lowering his mouth to mine and kissing me passionately.

I felt his hardness slide up inside of me, and I sighed with enjoyment.

“Make love with me.” he murmured into my ear, as I felt one of his hands reach up to my wrists and pull the knot free, releasing me from my bondage. I threw my arms around him, pulling him tightly to me, as if I couldn't get close enough.

 _“I love you, Gale! I love you, I love you...”_ I moaned as we rocked together, our bodies moving as one in perfect rhythm. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that my body could feel this good.

I slid my hands down Gale's arms until I reached his hands, intertwining my fingers with his. He moved my arms up next to my head, one on each side of the pillow, our hands pressed palm to palm, his fingers still locked with mine, as he kissed down the side of my face and neck.

I was so in love with this man who was currently inside of me, and so aroused by what he had done to me that I didn't last very long. Only a few minutes in, I released with such intensity, such mind-bending pleasure that I swear I saw stars.

 _“Gale.... Gale...”_ I moaned repeatedly, as my body kept trembling with shivers of gratification, like aftershocks after an earthquake. He followed soon after me, sighing my name into the side of my neck like I was the only thing in the world that mattered to him right now.

For a few minutes, we lay like that together, not moving, just breathing and enjoying the feeling of our emotional and physical connection.

Finally Gale lifted his head and looked at me.

“Thank you for trusting me.” he whispered, stroking my hair softly.

“Thank you for loving me,” I said back, “even when I am difficult and bossy.”

“Always.” he replied, smiling sweetly before kissing my lips. “Come on, let's get ready for bed now.”

We pulled ourselves apart just long enough for me to put on a short, comfy nightshirt while Gale pulled on his pajama pants, then we crawled back into the bed together, snuggled under the quilt.

“I love you.” I whispered to him just before I drifted off to sleep with my head on his chest. “Always.”


	6. Teasing, Tempting and Talking

The next morning, we yawned and stretched, then padded our way downstairs in our bare feet to the kitchen, still in what we wore to bed last night.

“I'm afraid I'm not very good in the kitchen,” I apologized, “but I'll see what I can whip us up for breakfast. Maybe I can make some French toast or something...”

Gale sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter behind me, and watched with amusement while I moved from cabinet to cabinet, looking to see if I had all the ingredients to make French toast. I didn't generally cook much, so I didn't know where to find half the stuff in my own kitchen. I saw that I had jars of cinnamon and nutmeg on the top shelf in one of the cabinets. I stretched my arm up as far as I could, even jumping up onto my tiptoes a couple of times to try and grab it, but the shelf was just beyond the reach of my fingertips. It irritated me that I couldn't reach it. I was just about to turn around and ask Gale to help me, when I felt him step up behind me, lean both of our bodies against the countertop, and easily reach over my head to retrieve both spice jars with one hand. He set the jars down on the counter, then I felt him wrap his left arm around my waist, while his right hand slid under my short nightshirt and cupped my ass cheek.

“Do you have to be such a fucking tease?” he said seductively into my ear, his erection pressing up against my backside through his pajama pants.

“What are you talking about?” I laughed. “I'm just trying to make breakfast!”

“Yeah, in a nightshirt that barely covers your ass when you're standing still. When you reach up high like that, you're showing me everything. All I can think about is bending you over this counter and fucking you senseless.”

I smiled, already feeling turned on by what he'd suggested. I turned around in the tiny amount of space between his body and the kitchen counter, and looked at him.

“Well, what do you want first, Gale? Sex or breakfast?” I asked.

“Definitely sex. Then breakfast. Then more sex.” he replied with a naughty grin.

I put my palms on the counter and lifted myself up, so I was sitting on the edge facing him. I spread my legs apart, exposing myself to Gale.

“Get me warmed up and then I'll let you bend me over.” I told him in a sultry voice.

“Now that's an offer I can't refuse.” he grinned, his eyes sparkling. “What do you want, my mouth or my hand?” he asked.

“Your mouth.” I said, as I leaned back and rested my head against the cabinet door. For a moment, I briefly wondered if it was a good idea to have sex on the kitchen counter, but then I thought, _Fuck it! It's MY kitchen and I almost got killed winning this house, so I will fuck Gale anywhere I damn well please!_ Besides, the idea of christening my kitchen with him like this had gotten me incredibly horny.

Gale got down on his knees in front of me. I had one foot resting on the edge of the sink, and my other leg was draped over his shoulder. He held onto my thighs and buried his face between my legs, pleasuring me with his mouth. I moaned as he skillfully used his tongue on me, warm and slick as he circled and lapped at my flesh. While he took over all control of my body, I allowed my mind to wander... I could easily imagine a future where Gale and I lived together and could ravage each other like this whenever we felt like it.

I was brought back to reality when Gale suddenly hit that sweet spot, the perfect placement and pressure of his tongue against me that took my breath away. I grabbed onto his hair and held him exactly where I wanted him.

“Right there Gale! Ohh, don't stop!” I moaned.

 _Holy shit that feels good!_ I thought to myself as I shamelessly enjoyed my lover's talented tongue for a few minutes. I was nearing orgasm, but as much as I craved it, I wanted to wait for Gale. I reached down to him, put my hands on the sides of his face and pulled him up to kiss me. When he did, I could taste my own wetness on his mouth.

“I'm ready for you.” I said between kisses.

He picked me up and carried me with my legs around his waist, kissing me the whole time, to the long counter behind us, where he had been sitting and watching me when this whole thing started. Without a word, he set my feet down on the floor, turned me around so my back was to him, and he reached up under my nightshirt, grabbing my breasts with both hands.

“Are you _sure_ you're ready for me?” he whispered roughly into my ear, teasing me. “I'm not going to be gentle with you this time.”

“You tell me.” I shot back sarcastically, taking one of his hands and shoving it down between my legs so he could feel how excited he had gotten me. He slid a finger up inside me, feeling the copious slippery wetness of my arousal.

“Mmm, I'll take that as a yes.” he growled.

He pulled his finger out of me and shoved it into his mouth, hungrily sucking my wetness off of it, then pulled my nightshirt up over my head and threw it on the floor.

“Bend over.” he demanded, dropping his pajama pants, grabbing onto my hip with his left hand, and using his right hand on my upper back to lean me forward until my chest was almost flat against the counter. I liked when he got a little dirty with me like this once in a while. It thrilled me to know that Gale wanted me so badly that he couldn't control himself, and I was more than happy to oblige his needs.

I felt his hand slide slowly down my spine and then caress appreciatively over my right ass cheek.

“God, you look so fucking sexy bent over like this.” Gale said, his voice husky with lust, as he traced circles around the rounded contour of my bottom with his fingertips. “You have the most beautiful, perfect behind.”

He gave my ass a squeeze, then moved his hand so that now he had a firm grasp on both hips.

He used his knee to spread my legs apart, then found my entrance and thrust himself up inside of me.

“Yes!” he hissed under his breath as he buried his hard cock deep in me. Over and over, he pounded into me, both of us gasping for breath. My hands clawed at the sleek, glossy granite countertop, searching for something to hold onto. I settled for just planting my palms flat against the counter, the heat of my skin leaving a pale outline of condensation around my fingers on the cool granite surface.

I felt Gale's right hand reach around my hip and start massaging my clit while he continued fucking me.

 _“Come.”_ he implored. “Come with me. I want to feel you.”

Between feeling him on me and inside of me at the same time, I knew it wouldn't take long.

“Oh, I'm coming, I'm coming!” I cried out, feeling my powerful contractions of release as Gale brought me to climax, and then himself a moment later.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly, his chest pressed up against my back, his lips trailing hot, breathy kisses all over my neck and shoulder. After a few minutes, he pulled out of me and turned me around to face him, stroking my hair softly with both hands.

“And you told me that you were no good in the kitchen.” Gale smirked at me. _“Liar.”_

I smiled and rolled my eyes at him.

“Well, I meant _cooking_ , not _fucking._ ” I snickered. “Speaking of which, we are right back to where we started. We still need to figure out something for breakfast.”

“Don't worry about it. Don't even bother cooking, just grab whatever you can find and let's go eat in bed.” he said, rubbing the back of my neck.

Sounded reasonable to me. I rummaged through the kitchen looking for anything that didn't require cooking or preparation. I managed to find half a loaf of bread, a jar of honey and two peaches. I grabbed the food and a spoon for the honey, and Gale picked up our pajamas off the floor, and we made our way back upstairs to my bedroom. We climbed up onto the bed, still naked, with the food between us.

“Let me feed you.” Gale said, the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight grin. He tore off a piece of the bread, then opened the jar of honey, dipped the spoon in it and spread it on the bread. He leaned over to hold the bread to my mouth, and a big fat drop of honey rolled off the edge of the bread and dripped onto my chin. I giggled as I chewed the sweet, sticky mouthful. Gale laughed with me, then he leaned forward and brought his tongue to my chin, slowly licking off the drop of honey there.

“My turn.” I smiled, tearing off another piece of bread and smearing it thickly with honey. I moved my hand towards his face, using the corner of the bread to paint a sticky line of honey along his jaw before delicately popping the bite of honeyed bread into his mouth. As he chewed, I sensually ran my tongue over his jawline, lapping up all the honey.

Gale took the spoon from me and prepared another bite of bread. As he went to place it in my open mouth, he turned the bread upside down, rubbing honey on my bottom lip before feeding it to me. He waited for me to swallow the bite, then he moved in and took my bottom lip in his mouth, running his tongue along it and sucking off all the sticky golden sweetness.

When he released my mouth from his, I playfully pushed him backwards against the pillows. I honeyed another bite of bread for him, fed it to him, then held the dripping spoon over his chiseled abs, drizzling a line of honey down his muscles. I winked at him, then lowered my face down and painstakingly licked every drop off of him. As I worked my way down his abdomen, I felt Gale take my empty hand and move it down, to show me that he was already rock hard for me once again.

“Is it bad that we can't even get through breakfast without wanting to fuck each other?” he asked.

“I don't think it's bad.” I answered. “But you will have to wait until we finish eating. We can't survive on sex alone!” I laughed.

“Damn!” he groaned with impatience.

He took the jar of honey with the spoon in it from me, and prepared another bite of bread. He fed it to me, then he gently pressed the back of the spoon, cool and sticky with honey, to my nipple, smearing a big glob there.

He grinned like a kid in a candy store as he leaned down, cupped my breast in his hand and guided my nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it and suckling all the honey off.

“Maybe we should have some fruit now.” I suggested, since the honey thing was getting a little out of hand, and I was still too hungry for another round of sex just yet.

 _Fruit is perfectly innocent, right?_ I thought to myself. Wrong, I found out.

I should have known that Gale could make _anything_ sexy, when he wanted to.

I reached out for one of the peaches, figuring that we would just each eat our own, but of course my boyfriend had other plans.

“Uh-uh.” he shook his head at me. Then he held up the peach, showing me that he intended to feed it to me. He held the peach to my mouth and I took a big bite. The sweet juice ran down my chin and the front of my throat, which he then swooped in and licked off of my skin.

As I chewed and swallowed the bite in my mouth, he handed me the peach to feed to him. He took a bite and the same thing happened- the juice ran all over his chin. I leaned in and sucked it off of him as he'd done to me.

He took the fruit from me, pulled off a chunk of peach with his fingers, reclined me backwards onto the pillows, then gently squeezed the piece of peach in his hand so that the juice ran down my belly and into my navel. He popped the piece of peach into my mouth, then proceeded to suck the peach juice out of my belly as if he were doing a body shot.

There was one bite of the peach left, so I did as Gale had done, tearing it away from the pit with my fingers, then I rubbed the cool wet flesh of the peach all the way up the inside of his thigh.

I placed the bite of peach in his mouth, then looked at him with my eyebrows raised, as if to say, How do you like THAT?

Then I lowered myself down and began licking my way up his thigh at a tortuously slow pace, tasting the sweet peach juice mixed with the saltiness of his skin. When I reached the end of the peach juice at his upper thigh, I pulled my mouth away and looked at him.

“Did you enjoy your breakfast?” I asked innocently.

“That might have been the most enjoyable breakfast I've ever had.” he grinned. “I think I'd like to have breakfast in bed with you more often.”

“Me too.” I agreed. “Although I feel awfully sticky now. Come on, let's go take a shower.”

I stood up, taking his hand and pulling him off the bed towards my bathroom that was attached to my bedroom.

I leaned into the spacious shower and turned on the water, giving it a minute to get hot while I took out two towels for us from the linen closet. Gale looked fascinated as he ran his fingers down the tiles on the wall and over the shiny chrome fixtures, and it dawned on me that this was probably his first time experiencing a modern shower, just like the capitol had been for me.

“It's nice, isn't it?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said with admiration, reaching his hand into the stream of warm water falling from the showerhead. “This is great!”

“You can come over and shower anytime you want to.” I offered.

“Can I bring you in with me?” he asked, his eyes glittering.

“Only when my mom's not here.” I laughed.

I stepped into the shower and pulled him in behind me.

“Oh, this feels so good!” he sighed, letting the hot water wash over his body.

I had to agree that of all the benefits being a victor afforded me, having this beautiful, luxurious shower with hot running water 24 hours a day was _definitely_ my favorite.

“Let's make your first fancy shower experience a memorable one, shall we?” I said seductively, as I took the bar of soap and lathered up my hands thickly with suds. I turned him around to face the wall, and proceeded to lather up his back, rubbing my way up his muscular frame, over his shoulders and down his arms. Then I had him face me, and I ran my soapy hands over his chest and down his abs several times over, watching him enjoy the sensation of my fingers sliding over his body.

“My turn to wash you.” he said, picking up the bar of soap and rubbing it between his hands until they were full of creamy, frothy soap suds. He washed my back first, as I'd done to him, kneading my muscles with his strong hands, then I felt his hands skim down my sides and wrap around my waist, sliding up my stomach until they reached my breasts. He lingered over them, teasing my nipples with his fingers, gliding smoothly over my skin that was now slippery from the soap.

“Wash them well.” I teased. “Make sure you get off all the honey you put there earlier.”

“If you insist.” he said into my ear, before kissing his way down my jaw to my neck. The whole time, he continued massaging my chest with his slick, soapy hands.

I turned myself back around to face him, reaching my hand down and wrapping my hand around his hard manhood.

“How would you like to try shower sex, Gale?” I asked, stroking him lightly with my wet, sudsy fingers, rubbing the tip of him with my thumb.

“I thought you'd never ask.” he smirked. “Come here.”

I reached my arms around his neck and he lifted me up, pressing my back up against the cool tiled shower wall. I wrapped my legs around his body, eager to have him inside of me once again. I didn't know what had come over me these last few days. Suddenly I was addicted to Gale, and no matter how many times we were intimate, it felt like it was never enough.

I welcomed the feeling of him easing his thick, throbbing length inside of me. I loved the way we fit together, how he always managed to hit just the right spot when he was all the way in. We found a comfortable rhythm, my back sliding against the tiles as he pushed himself up into me, holding onto the back of my thighs.

I let my head fall back, resting against the wall, and Gale seized the opportunity to bring his mouth down to my throat, kissing and sucking and nipping his way down to my collarbone.

“Oh, Gale...” I moaned, the warm water from the showerhead cascading down our naked bodies, the wet skin of our chests slapping together each time he thrust up into me.

As he brought me closer and closer to climax, I held on even tighter to him, bringing my head forward now and resting it on his shoulder, my ragged breaths hot on his neck. He pressed his weight against me, pinning me tightly to the tiled wall, so that I was simultaneously feeling his depth inside me and the grinding of his pelvis against my center.

“Katniss,” he panted breathlessly, “I'm gonna come, baby.”

I felt his tempo and intensity increase until finally all his muscles tightened and then shuddered with the spasms of release. He gasped with trembling breaths, his cheek pressed to my wet hair. He kept going for me, knowing my body so well by now that he could tell how close I was without even needing to ask.

Feeling his tremors followed by the warmth of Gale unloading himself inside of me was all it took to send me into the stratosphere. My orgasm overtook me, my fingers clawing at his back and my legs shaking as they squeezed tightly around his waist. My wanton sighs of pure satisfaction echoed and reverberated within the shower walls.

When Gale finally set me down on my feet after we finished, my body felt so sated and spent that I wasn't entirely sure that my own legs would be able to hold me up. Luckily my love kept me enveloped in his strong arms for a while, just letting the warm water wash over us as we held onto each other.

When the shower finally started to run out of hot water, we stepped out and dried ourselves off.

“Let's go back to bed for a little while.” I said, feeling very sleepy again after all our exertions this morning, as well as the nice warm shower.

I didn't even bother to put any pajamas on, I just dropped my towel on the floor and crawled into the bed, so Gale followed suit and came to bed that way too. I rested my head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me.

“Mmmm, I could spend the rest of my life with you like this, Gale.” I yawned. I felt so relaxed and comfortable in his embrace that I drifted off almost immediately.

When I woke from my nap, I could feel him softly stroking my hair. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was studying my face thoughtfully.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a little smile.

“Just watching you sleep.” he said.

“How long was I out?”

“Oh, a little over an hour, I guess.”

“Sorry Gale! I didn't mean to sleep that long. Did you sleep?”

“Not really.”

“Were you just watching me the whole time?” I asked.

“Not all of it. I was thinking about stuff too. I had a lot on my mind.” he said quietly.

“Like what?”

He didn't answer me at first. He took a deep breath, like he needed a moment to gather his thoughts. I propped myself up on my elbows so I could look at his face. I could see now the conflict in his eyes, that he had things to say, important things, and he wanted to make sure the words came out right.

“What is it, Gale?” I asked with growing concern.

“What you said earlier, about spending your life with me. I think we should talk about our future. What you want.” he replied.

“I want you. I want us.” I said with certainty.

“Are you _sure?_ ”

“Why?” I asked. “Are you not sure?” My heart was suddenly pounding in my chest.

He sensed my fear that he was pulling away, and he quickly took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes.

“No, it's not that. I told you last night that I love you more than anything, and I meant it. But I'm not a fool, Katniss. I know that I have nothing to offer you, except for love. I can't give you a better life. I can't take you away from here. If you choose life with me, it probably won't be easy. I just want to make sure that one day down the road, you won't regret that you chose me instead of Peeta. If you need to change your mind, I need you to do it now.”

I couldn't believe he was even saying this. That he thought, even for a moment, that I would regret loving him.

“Gale, where is this coming from?”

“Being with you this week, being in love with you...this has been the most amazing, most wonderful week of my life. I feel like I'm living in a dream. But that makes me afraid that one day I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone. Staying in this house with you has made me realize how different our lives have become. We used to be the same. Our lives were the same. Our struggle for survival was the same. But now it's not. You went through hell and back, but now your life has gotten better and a little easier, and I am _so_ happy about that. But now, what that means is that I'm...”

Gale paused, and averted his eyes, as if he were ashamed.

“I'm _beneath_ you, Katniss. You're a _victor_ , a celebrity. If you stay with me, if you married me, it would be like... a step down for you. I just want to make sure that you've thought this through. That you won't spend your life wondering if you should have married Peeta, who can give you so much more than I can. Everyone in Panem would love to see you marry him. No one would be rooting for me.”

“Except me.” I said, lifting his chin to make him look at me again. My heart broke to think that this was what had been weighing so heavily on his mind... that his foolish pride made him feel inadequate because he would never be able to be the traditional, breadwinning husband for me.

“Don't you ever, _EVER_ say that you're beneath me, that you're _not good enough_ for me, Gale Hawthorne! Life with you wouldn't be a 'step down' for me. It would just be a continuation of the way I've always lived. So I have a nicer house now, so what? Who says I can't make _your_ life a little better? I'll help you take care of your family, just like you would do for me if the situation was reversed. We can split our time between both our houses. You're my best friend, you know me better than anyone, and I love you. I _don't_ _care_ what everyone in Panem wants. It's my life, and I want to spend it with you, not Peeta.”

“Really? Do you mean that?” he asked.

“Yes, I really mean it!” I exclaimed, throwing myself into his arms and holding him close. “Have I, in any way, not made myself clear this week how much I want you, and need you, and love you?”

“No.” he said sheepishly, with a shy smile on his face.

“Okay then.” I said. With a smirk on my face, I continued, “The only time you will _ever_ be _beneath_ me is when I'm riding your gorgeous body in our bed, is that clear?”

“Yes ma'am.” he grinned.

“When my mom and Prim get home, we are going back to your house, and we are spending the night there. I think you need a reminder of how much I love being there, and being with you.”

“I'd like that.” he whispered, as he tenderly caressed his fingers across my cheek, and then pulled my mouth to his for a lingering kiss. “I don't know what I ever did to deserve you.”

“It's simple, Gale. You loved me.” I said.

“And I always will.” he promised, kissing my forehead as I snuggled against him.

I couldn't wait for tonight, when we would be all alone at his house, so I could show him just how good our future could be.


	7. Promise Me This

A few hours later, I heard my mom and Prim come in downstairs. I sent Gale down to greet them while I threw a few things in an overnight bag to bring to his house. I was glad that we'd had our talk earlier about our future, and I hoped that once we were back at the cabin, I could show him once and for all how much he meant to me, and that I would love him forever, no matter where we lived or how much money we had.

I got ready as quickly as I could, and then bounded down the stairs with my bag slung over my shoulder. I hugged Prim and then listened attentively as she told me all about what she'd done on her trip with mom, and how once the doctor finally arrived, he even let her help with some of the dressing changes.

“I think I might want to be a doctor when I grow up.” she told me proudly.

“Oh, that's great!” I said, squeezing her hands in mine. “You'd be an excellent doctor, Prim!”

Buttercup came sauntering in and meowed loudly at Prim, whose eyes lit up at the cat's presence.

“I've already fed Buttercup and Lady this morning, so they are all set.” I said. Prim was busy petting the cat, so I turned my attention to my mother and started talking as I walked towards the door.

“I'm going to stay at Gale's tonight, so I'll be home sometime tomorrow. Bye!” I handed Gale his bag he'd brought over last night, and we headed out the front door, before she could have a chance to ask any questions. I didn't think she would have tried to stop me anyway, since for the past few years I had pretty much assumed the parenting role in the family after dad died, but I wasn't about to give her the opportunity. After everything I've been through, I felt that I deserved some happiness, and I was going to enjoy it.

Gale and I walked hand in hand through the woods, in no particular hurry, just savoring this beautiful afternoon spent together. Along the way, we came across a patch of black eyed susans, and Gale plucked two of the vibrant yellow daisies and tucked them behind my ear, leaving a soft kiss on my lips as he did it.

We continued walking towards Gale's house, our shadows on the ground growing longer in the golden afternoon sunlight, as the air around us grew noticeably cooler with the sun starting to sink behind the trees.

“I think it's going to be a cold one tonight,” Gale said, looking up to the sky. “No clouds. The temperature will drop off fast. We should collect some kindling while we walk so we can get a fire going when we get home.”

_When we get home..._

I smiled to myself, noting that I couldn't remember a time before now when Gale had spoken as if this was _our_ home, rather than _his_ home.

By the time we got to the cabin, we both had our arms full of twigs and branches that we set down in a large crate off to the side of the hearth.

“Brrr,” I said, rubbing my arms. “It is a little chilly in here.”

“I'll get the fire started. It'll be warm in no time.” he smiled at me.

While he knelt down in front of the hearth making a pile of kindling to start the fire, I took out some of the beeswax candles we had made together and lit them, placing them around the cabin for soft light. I knew that Gale would be busy building the fire for a few minutes, so I went into the bedroom and changed my clothes. I had a little surprise up my sleeve for him.

I pulled out of my bag the sundress I'd worn the other day on our picnic. I wanted to look pretty tonight for Gale, and at the moment, this was the only dress I owned, other than the blue one I'd worn to the reaping. As I put it on, I couldn't help but smile at the memory of that warm afternoon in the rain, when we'd had intense, passionate sex against the tree. This dress definitely had better memories attached to it than the blue one did.

I took my hair out of its usual braid and brushed it out, so that it fell in soft waves over my shoulders, and then put back the yellow flowers that Gale had placed behind my ear on our walk home. I liked that they matched the little pale yellow daisies that were printed on my dress.

I reached into my bag again and pulled out a little package, wrapped in the silk scarf that he had used to tie my wrists to my bed with yesterday. I looked out beyond the bedroom wall and saw that Gale was still kneeling at the hearth, putting some bigger pieces of wood in the small fire he had going. I quietly walked over to him in my bare feet, and knelt down next to him with the bundle in my hands.

He looked up at me, obviously surprised by my outfit.

“Wow, you put my favorite dress on...” he said with a smile. “What's the occasion?”

“Just us.” I answered.

He looked down at what I was holding in my hands.

“And I see you brought your scarf too. I like where this is going already.” he smirked.

I laughed softly. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Gale.” I teased.

“Sorry.” he chuckled. “I can't help it. Especially when you look so beautiful like this.” he said, moving himself in closer to me and smoothing a lock of my hair through his fingers.

We were quiet for a minute, just looking at each other in the warm glow of the firelight. Gale was gently rubbing the top of one of my hands with his fingers. Finally he spoke, in a very low voice.

“So tell me, if you're not planning on tying me up with that scarf and having your way with me, then what exactly are you planning, Miss Everdeen?”

I looked down at the small bundle I held in my lap, and took a deep breath.

“I'd like to make plans to change my name to Mrs. Hawthorne.” I said, as I unwrapped the silk I was holding, showing him the thick piece of bread inside.

I heard Gale's breath catch just a little, as we both lifted our eyes and met each others' gaze.

“You want to do a toasting?” he asked.

“I know it's not official or legally binding or anything, but I want you to know that I would marry you today and happily spend the rest of my life with you. We could consider this our engagement, if you want...” I explained.

Gale smiled warmly at me, and covered both of my hands with his own, so that we were both holding the bread.

“Aren't I supposed to be the one proposing to you?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” I asked back.

“No.” he replied, laughing lightly. “I guess not. You never have been one to do things the conventional way.” he said, grinning at me. “I would be _honored_ , and the luckiest man in Panem, if you would be my wife.”

“And I would be the happiest girl in the _whole world_ if you would be my husband.” I told him, my eyes fixed on his.

“Okay then, let's do it.” Gale said softly, still holding both my hands. “Tonight will be for just you and me. Our own commitment to each other. The next time we do this, it will be official, our true wedding with our families.”

I nodded enthusiastically with a huge smile on my face, unable to speak because I was so choked up with emotion.

Gale reached over to the crate full of kindling wood and pulled out a long, slender stick, then pushed it through the thick piece of bread. He pulled me into his lap, placed my hand on the end of the stick, and then wrapped his own large hand over mine, so together we held the bread close to the fire. We turned it back and forth until both sides were a light golden brown, and then we removed it from the fire and pulled the piece of bread from the stick, tearing it in half so we each held a chunk in our fingers.

Gale stared at me, his gray eyes glittering with warmth and wonder.

“Tonight we pledge to sustain each other, both physically and emotionally. We promise to always be there for each other, to meet each others' needs, to be each others' best friend, and to provide unending love, fidelity and partnership, as long as we live. I promise you this, Katniss.” he stated.

“I promise you this, Gale.” I repeated.

We each fed each other bites of the toasted bread until it was gone. As I sat across his lap, Gale held my left hand in both of his.

“I wish I had a ring to give you.”

“It's okay,” I whispered tenderly. “I don't need a ring to know you love me.”

He sat there in quiet contemplation, just caressing my hand for a minute. Then he suddenly looked up at me and said, “I'll be right back!”

He eased me off of his lap and rushed into his bedroom. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him looking around and pulling out his dresser drawers. A few minutes later, he returned to my side and sat next to me.

“I want you to have this.” he said, holding up a very delicate silver chain with a tiny silver heart pendant on it. I looked at him questioningly.

“This was my mother's.” he explained. “My dad bought it for her one year for their anniversary. I think I was about five years old. It was the only thing of any value that she's ever owned. He told her that he had saved up for _years_ to buy it for her. She never took it off, until the day he died. When that happened, she said she couldn't bring herself to keep wearing it because she wasn't a wife anymore. She gave it to me, and made me promise never to sell it, no matter how bad our situation got. She told me that it should be passed down through the family to the next Mrs. Hawthorne. And now, that will be you.”

“It's beautiful.” I breathed, overwhelmed by his gift.

He moved behind me, swept my hair off to one side, and clasped the necklace around my neck. I brought my hand up to the base of my throat and touched the cool metal of the dainty heart pendant where it rested against my skin.

“Let me see.” Gale said, as he came back in front of me. I lowered my hand so he could look at it.

“It looks perfect on you.” he whispered.

“Thank you, Gale. I love it.” I said, climbing back into his lap, straddling his thighs and hugging him tightly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” he replied, placing his hands on both sides of my face and pulling me in for a kiss... and then another, and another. The next thing I knew, his tongue was sliding across my lower lip. I opened my mouth for him, and suddenly we were locked in a heated kiss, our tongues dancing passionately. He curled one hand behind my neck and up into my hair, pulling me even closer as his mouth explored mine. His other hand slid down from my cheek, down the front of my neck, lingering for a moment over the necklace he'd just adorned me with, and then down over the front of my dress and onto my breast, gently squeezing and fondling it, rubbing his thumb over my hardening nipple. I ran my fingers through his hair, sighing into his mouth as he continued kissing me, and arching my back, pressing my bosom more firmly into his hand.

He brought his other hand down to my chest and began unbuttoning the front of my dress, until he was holding both of my bare breasts in his hands, and I could feel his hardness pressing between my legs.

“I want you.” he growled between kisses. “Let's go to bed.”

I slid off of his lap, and he stood up, reaching for my hand and pulling me up with him. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and the other behind my knees and swept me off my feet, carrying me across his arms and into the bedroom. He set me down on my feet next to the bed, leaned in and kissed me again. This time as he kissed me, I felt both his hands at my hips, gathering up my dress and then pulling it up over my head, leaving me in just my panties in front of him. He knelt down in front of me, skimmed his hands down my sides and over my hips, and then hooked his fingers into the sides of my panties. He pulled them down to the floor, and then he leaned his face in between my legs and softly placed a wet tongue kiss there.

I moaned appreciatively as I felt arousal, like a current of electricity, coursing through my body.

Gale stood back up, pulling off his shirt and tossing it on the floor. I reached out to him, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants, then pushing them down, freeing the huge hard-on he already had for me. He touched my face with his fingers, slowly trailing his thumb over my bottom lip.

“It's too dark in here.” he said in a gravelly whisper. “I want to be able to see your face while I'm making love to you. I'll go get some of the candles and bring them in here. You get on that bed and get ready for me. I'll be right back.”

He kissed me, then turned and left me alone in the bedroom.

He returned to the bedroom less than a minute later, carrying two candles. He set them down on top of the dresser, then turned to face the bed.

Now that it was light enough to see easily, he sucked his breath in with lustful surprise at the erotic scene before him.

I was lying on my back on the edge of his bed, wearing nothing but the silver necklace, my legs spread wide. I had my right hand down between my legs, my fingers sensually circling over my clit, just as Gale so often did to me. My head was reclined back on the pillow, my long hair cascading over my left shoulder and off the side of the bed, where I was looking at him.

“Gale,” I sighed softly to him. He gazed at me, barely breathing as he stood there and watched me touching myself. “Come over here and make love to your fiancee.”

“Oh, I promise you I will. But first I want to enjoy this incredible view for a minute.”

I bit my lower lip, and while I continued to pleasure myself with my right hand, I slowly skimmed my left hand up my abdomen and over my breast, before bringing it up and gradually sliding my index finger into my mouth, sucking on it, moving it in and out, running my tongue along the underside of my finger while I kept my eyes locked with his. The sexual innuendo was not lost on Gale. I took my finger out of my mouth for a second.

“Touch yourself for me Gale.” I demanded.

He reached down, grasped his cock and started slowly stroking himself.

“Yes, I like that.” I moaned. “That's _hot_.”

I rubbed myself a little faster, my fingers getting slick with my own wetness.

“Do you like watching _me_ , Gale?” I asked.

 _“God, yes.”_ he whispered enthusiastically, stroking himself a bit harder.

“Come closer. I'll give you something to watch.”

He stepped up to the side of the bed and stood next to me, gently grasped my right hand that I had been pleasuring myself with, lifted it up and put my fingers into his mouth, sucking and licking off all my wetness.

While he savored the taste of my arousal, I took my left hand that was closest to him and wrapped it around Gale's throbbing member, guiding him into my mouth. He released my hand and looked down at me, his mouth hanging open with bated breath as he watched me with enraptured eyes, while I took him all the way to the back of my throat, sensually circling my tongue on him while I moved him in and out of my warm mouth.

 _“Ah, fuck, Katniss, that is so good!”_ he moaned while I continued eagerly sucking on him.

He reached his hand up to my chest and fondled one of my breasts while I pleasured him, playing with my nipple as I ran my tongue over his sensitive skin.

“Touch yourself again, baby!” he panted.

He watched as I slid my right hand down and began stroking my wet flesh again with my fingers. His eyes moved back and forth between watching my fingers on my clit and my mouth on his cock.

 _“Oh, fuck, yes!”_ he groaned loudly, as he spasmed and thrust himself deep into my mouth, filling it with his warm, salty fluid.

I swallowed it down and then looked up at him, waiting for him to say something. He sighed a deep breath as he pulled himself out of my mouth.

“That was the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen.” he said breathlessly, as he gently ran his fingers through my hair. “And now my beautiful, sexy fiancee needs to be rewarded for her efforts.”

He climbed over me to the center of the bed, laid down on his back, and then grabbed onto my waist with both hands and pulled me over until I was sitting on top of him, straddling his stomach. He slid his hands over my thighs, up my belly and onto my breasts.

“I will never get tired of admiring your body.” he said in a low voice. Then he moved his hands down my sides and rested them just below my ass.

“Come here.” he whispered roughly, pulling me by the back of my thighs until I was straddling his face. He held onto my hips and pulled me down just slightly, until I felt his tongue on me, hot and wet.

 _“Ohhhh!”_ I moaned out loud. I felt like I was super sensitive from all the teasing and playing we'd already done. I held onto the headboard of Gale's bed while he used his talented tongue on me, moving it around in painstakingly slow circles. My body ached for more. I moved my hips around, meeting the motions of his tongue as I gasped in shallow breaths at the pleasure he was giving me.

The more excited I got, the faster he used his tongue on me until I finally came, panting and moaning with euphoria.

When I finished, I rolled over off of Gale and lay down next to him, still trying to catch my breath.

“Oh, Gale, your mouth is the _best!_ ” I sighed.

“So is yours.” he smirked, wiping my wetness off his chin with his hand.

We lay there resting like that just for a few minutes, until we knew we needed more. We needed to feel closer to each other, connected to each other.

Gale rolled himself on top of me, easily finding my entrance and sliding inside. He kissed me deeply as he began thrusting himself into me, slowly at first, with one hand lovingly stroking my cheek.

“I love you more than you will ever know.” he murmured with his lips touching my ear, as he brought his fingers down from my cheek and traced them over the thin strand of silver chain that sparkled at the base of my throat. “I can't wait to marry you, Katniss.”

“I can't wait to marry you either, Gale.” I smiled as I looked up at him above me, my heart bursting with joy at the thought of falling asleep and waking up to his handsome face every day for the rest of my life.

The soft glow of the flickering candlelight on the dresser cast shadows of our bodies on the wall behind us, the silhouettes of two lovers joined as one.

We started to move together a little faster now as our pleasure mounted. I was intoxicated by the deep, needful moans that escaped his lips each time he sunk his entire length into me, and the way he was looking at me with his smoldering, stormy gray eyes, as if the whole world had just disappeared the minute he'd entered me.

 _“Gale... Gale...”_ I moaned, my fingers pressing into his back, pulling him closer, deeper, harder into me. I was gasping, whimpering, teetering on the edge of the precipice...

And then I was falling. Falling hard and falling fast. Falling deeper into love than I ever thought possible, as Gale and I came at the same time, my body releasing with exquisite waves of pleasure, one after another, as I felt Gale's warmth filling me when his own spectacular climax overtook him. I threw my head back, moaning incoherently at the dizzying ecstasy my body was feeling.

“Katniss...” he sighed hoarsely into the side of my neck, pressing hot breathy kisses to every inch of my skin that he could reach... my jaw, my ear, my cheek, my shoulder.

My muscles were still quivering when he finally stopped moving inside of me, and we looked at each other, our cheeks flushed, our hairlines damp with sweat. I wished that we could stay like this forever.

“I love you.” he said, softly stroking my hair with his still trembling hands.

“I love you too.” I replied, my arms and legs still wrapped around his body.

“Just think...” Gale whispered to me as he looked into my eyes. “If our _engagement_ night can be this good, just think how amazing our _wedding_ night will be.”

I smiled up at this man whom I loved more than anything in this whole world.

“I can only imagine.” I whispered back.


	8. Dessert

_Katniss Hawthorne._

_Mrs. Gale Hawthorne?_ No, too formal. I scribbled a line through that name and wrote another.

 _Mrs. Katniss Everdeen Hawthorne?_ Way too long. Too many syllables. Scratch that one out too.

 _Katniss Hawthorne._ I think I'll just go with that. Traditional. Old fashioned. Sounds pretty good too... I smiled as I looked at the words on the paper in front of me, the name that I would soon be taking. I could get used to writing that.

“What are you doing?” Gale asked, as he appeared over my shoulder, startling me.

“Nothing!” I exclaimed, covering the paper with my hand, giggling with embarrassment that he'd caught me practicing my married name before we were even married.

“Doesn't look like nothing, if you're covering it up!” he teased, squeezing my shoulders and nibbling my neck playfully. “Let me see!”

“No!” I laughed.

He reached around me and grabbed the paper out from under my hand. He looked at it and got a huge, ear to ear grin across his face.

“Aww, you're practicing your new name!” he said. “Who knew you were so mushy and sentimental?”

I yanked the paper back out of his hand, giving him a friendly little shove on the arm while I was at it.

“For your information, Gale, I'm not being _sentimental,_ I'm being _practical_. We are going to have thank you notes to write after the wedding, and I wanted to decide how I should sign them.”

“Mmm-hmm.” he answered in a mocking tone, clearly not buying my explanation for a moment.

“Well, I don't care why you were doing it, I think it's cute.” Then he leaned in, leaving a lingering tongue kiss on the side of my neck, and whispered in my ear, “And I like _Katniss_ _Hawthorne,_ if you want my opinion.”

The combination of his kiss on my neck and his breath in my ear set off butterflies in my stomach.

“I like it too.” I agreed.

Gale pulled up a barstool and sat down next to me at the granite counter in my kitchen.

“So are you ready for tomorrow?” he asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. “I can't wait!”

“Me neither.” he said softly, putting his hand on top of mine and rubbing it lightly. “You're going to be a beautiful bride.”

“And you're going to be a _very handsome_ groom.” I smiled.

We had decided not to have a long engagement. Getting married young was a common practice in District 12, because everyone had to grow up fast here. Maturity and responsibility were traits you learned quickly if you wanted to survive the harsh life of poverty that so many of us, like Gale and myself, had been born into.

We had thought about waiting until the spring, but then we decided that there was really no point in waiting. We loved each other, we were eager to begin our life together, so we figured the sooner the better. We settled on late October for our wedding, which had given us several weeks to make plans, and it would be before the weather turned harsh and cold for the winter. The weeks had flown by quickly, and now, in only 24 hours, I would officially be Katniss Hawthorne.

Gale caught me staring off into space with a dreamy smile on my face and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Tomorrow.” I answered. “The last minute details, stuff like that.”

“There isn't much left to do, is there?” he asked.

“Nope. Just the flowers, I think. Then all I have to worry about is making myself pretty for you, and showing up on time.”

“You're already pretty for me, just the way you are.” he grinned, lifting my hand and bringing it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on my knuckles.

Our wedding was going to be at Gale's house. Even though the cabin was not very big, we felt that it was the perfect location to pledge our lives to each other. We were only having a very small, intimate ceremony with just our families and a few friends anyway, so we didn't need a lot of room. Like other District 12 weddings, ours would not be formal. We would be dressed in clothes that we could wear again later. Even though I had money now from my winnings, I didn't see the point in buying an elaborate, fancy dress for myself or an outfit for Gale that we would never wear again. It just seemed wasteful. So we picked out a new pair of khaki pants and a button down shirt for Gale, and for myself I chose a tea length dress of white eyelet lace cotton, with a sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps, that I would be able to wear again in the summer.

“I'm going to miss you like crazy tonight.” I told him. I was staying here at my house tonight, so my mom and Prim could help me get ready in the morning, and Gale would be staying at the cabin.

“Well, this is the last night we'll ever have to spend apart.” he answered.

My heart soared at the thought of waking up with him every morning for the rest of our lives. I leaned closer to him and left a soft kiss on his lips.

“Shouldn't you be getting in the shower now, Gale?” I asked with a smile. He had grown quite fond of the convenience and comfort of having a modern shower with hot running water. Even though we spent most of our time together at Gale's house, we usually came back here to my house a few times a week to visit with my mom and Prim and to take showers. It was surely a lot easier, and more enjoyable, than lugging in buckets of water, heating them in the fire and dumping them into the big wash basin to take shallow baths.

“I wish you would come in with me. Your mom and Prim aren't here right now. It's just you, me, and a big empty shower...” he said with a mischievous grin as he lightly skimmed his fingers up my forearm.

“You know I'd love to accept your invitation, but I can't. My mom will be home any minute, and she would not be happy to walk in and hear the sounds of her daughter getting nailed in the shower, even if we _are_ getting married tomorrow.”

“Fine, have it your way!” Gale huffed dramatically, pretending to be devastated at the thought of showering alone, as he stood up from the counter and started walking towards the stairs to use my master bathroom. As he walked away, I heard him continue yelling to me, “If you change your mind, I'll just be upstairs in the shower... _all alone... naked..._ _wet... horny...”_

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. “The answer is still no!” I called back.

From the top of the stairs, I heard him yell, _“Did I mention HORNY?”_

“Get in the shower Gale!” I yelled back at him, laughing and shaking my head.

Although the thought of a quickie in the shower with him _did_ sound tempting, I didn't feel _too_ bad making him wait another day for sex. I figured we'd be making up for it _plenty_ tomorrow night.

After Gale showered and visited with me for a little while longer, he told me goodbye so that he could head back to the cabin to finish up some last minute preparations for tomorrow.

“Well,” he said as he held both my hands, “the next time you see me, I'll be standing at the hearth, waiting to make you my wife.”

“I'll be there.” I promised, beaming a huge smile at him. “I'll be the one wearing white.”

We kissed goodbye in the doorway for way too long, then finally he left and headed towards the woods.

The next day dawned sunny and beautiful, a picture perfect October day. Prim and I were busy all morning with the flowers. I was making my bouquet out of red, orange and purple chrysanthemums, baby sunflowers and black eyed susans. Prim used the same flowers and braided them into a beautiful wreath that I would wear on my head like a crown of colorful blooms. She helped me brush and curl my hair into big soft soft waves that fell loosely over my shoulders, the way Gale liked it best, and then she pinned the crown of flowers on top of my head. I put on my silver heart necklace and some shiny, light pink lip gloss, and I was ready. I carried my dress with me rather than wearing it, so it wouldn't get it dirty or snag on anything as we walked through the woods to Gale's house. When we got there, I went into his room and Prim helped me change out of my casual clothes and into my dress, so Gale wouldn't see me until the ceremony.

Our wedding was scheduled for late afternoon, just before the sunset, when the sun sat low on the horizon, bathing everything in a warm, golden glow. Our guests started arriving and filling the cabin, and I began to get excited... that this was really our wedding day. My mom and Prim were already here, then next came Gale's mom and siblings, followed by Madge and her father Mayor Undersee, who would be officiating our wedding. Shortly after, Peeta arrived with Haymitch.

When Peeta had heard that we were getting married, he had come to me and offered to make our toasting bread and wedding cake for us as his wedding gift. I had gratefully accepted his kind offer, so now when I saw him walk in the door, I was dying to see the cake.

I sent Prim out to get Peeta and bring him to me so I could see the cake. A minute later, Peeta appeared at the entrance to the bedroom, carrying a white box, and also a bag, with the handles looped over his arm.

“Wow, Katniss, you look beautiful!” he said as he looked at me.

“Thanks Peeta.” I said, smiling at him. “Can I see the cake?”

“Sure!” he answered, setting the box down on top of the dresser and opening it for me. I looked down inside at the cake. It was _amazing..._ he had made a square cake with white buttercream frosting, with a thick scalloped frosting border all around the edges, and sprinkled all over the top were little colorful autumn leaves of red, yellow and orange that he had formed by hand from fondant. They were so lifelike, that if it weren't for their smaller size, I would have sworn that he had grabbed a handful of real leaves off of the trees outside and used them as decoration. In the center of the cake, he had piped the outline of a heart in dark red frosting, with a monogram in the middle with the letters _KHG_ , for Katniss and Gale Hawthorne, in perfect script lettering.

“Oh my gosh, Peeta, this is outstanding!” I gushed. “Thank you, I love it!”

“You're welcome. Would you like to see your toasting bread too?”

“Sure!” He pulled a small oval shaped loaf of bread out of the bag hanging from his arm. It was golden brown, soft, and still warm from the bakery. On the top of the loaf, right in the middle, were flecks of raw oatmeal sprinkled in the outline of a heart, so it almost looked like the heart was made of ivory lace.

“This is our most popular toasting bread that we sell at the bakery.” he explained. “It's honey wheat bread with oatmeal for the decoration.”

“Wow. I can't thank you enough Peeta. This is a wonderful gift, thank you.” I leaned over and gave him a hug.

“You're very welcome. It was my pleasure.” he said, hugging me back. “I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for you, so it was the least I could do.” he paused for a moment, then continued, “Well, I'd better bring these out to the other room. I think it's almost time for you to get married!”

I smiled brightly at him, as he took the cake and the bread out to the other room to get them set up.

“Are we ready?” I heard Mayor Undersee's booming voice ask.

“She's ready!” Prim called out excitedly.

The guests all stood in a half circle facing the hearth, where a crackling fire was burning. Gale was standing there next to the mayor with his back to the fireplace, waiting for me with his hands clasped in front of him.

I emerged from his bedroom in my white eyelet dress, wearing the crown of autumn flowers and carrying my colorful matching bouquet. When Gale saw me, he took a deep breath and smiled the biggest, brightest smile I'd ever seen. I smiled back at him, my heart pounding with exhilaration.

Gale never took his eyes off of me for even a second as I walked slowly across the room to him. When I reached his side, I handed my bouquet off to Prim and I joined hands with the man who was about to become my husband.

Mayor Undersee began, “Welcome friends and family. We are gathered here today on this lovely afternoon to witness the joining of this man and this woman in marriage. Katniss, Gale, do you both come here today, of your own free will, with the intention of pledging your lives to one another?”

“We do.” we answered in unison.

“Gale, do you take Katniss to be your wife, to love, honor and cherish, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for all the days of your life?”

“I do.” he answered.

“Katniss, do you take Gale to be your husband, to love, honor and cherish, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for all the days of your life?”

“I do.”

“Now, let us perform the toasting.” the mayor said, stepping aside so that Gale and I could kneel together at the hearth, facing the fire. We had the loaf of bread in front of us on a cutting board on the floor. Together we picked up the knife, his hand covering mine as we grasped the knife's handle, and we cut a thick slice of bread from the loaf. Then, just as we had done during our engagement toasting, Gale took a stick and pushed it through the center of the slice of bread. We held our hands together on the end of the stick the same way we had held the knife, with his hand on top of mine, and we held it in front of the fire, turning it back and forth until both sides of the bread were a light golden color. Then we pulled it off of the stick and tore it in two, each holding half of the slice.

We turned a little so that we were facing each other as we knelt on the floor. Gale held his piece of bread out to me, saying, “Tonight I pledge to provide for you, to sustain you both physically and emotionally, and to meet all your needs as my partner. I promise you this, Katniss.” He lifted his piece of bread to my lips and fed me a bite.

Next it was my turn. I repeated the same pledge to Gale and gently fed him a bite of the bread from my hand. Then we set down what was left on the cutting board, and stood up together holding hands.

Mayor Undersee joined us in front of the hearth again for the conclusion of our ceremony.

“Now that you have pledged your lives to one another, through your vows and through the symbolic toasting of the bread, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Gale, you may kiss your bride.”

Gale tenderly placed both his hands on the sides of my face and then pulled me in for a romantic, passionate kiss. During those few precious seconds that we were locked in our embrace, with our eyes closed and our lips pressing softly together, I felt as if if the rest of the world had just disappeared around us. I never felt anyone's eyes on us, I never heard the celebratory applause of our friends and family... I was only aware of Gale and the love between us... the warmth of his body held tightly against mine, the feeling of safety and security I felt with his arms wrapped around me.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw his gray eyes staring back at me, misty with emotion, just as mine were. We smiled and turned towards our loved ones, who all came at us and began hugging and congratulating us both.

Our guests didn't stay long after the ceremony, only long enough to enjoy a piece of our wedding cake before heading back towards the center of town so they would be out of the woods before the sun set all the way. Our mothers and siblings were the last to leave, and we walked them out to say goodbye. Gale grabbed a throw blanket off the end of his bed and wrapped it around my shoulders before we went outside into the chilly evening air. We watched as our families walked away together into the woods for home, until we found ourselves completely alone in the dusky evening.

Gale turned and looked at me, then said, “Dance with me, Mrs. Hawthorne. I'd like to share a first dance with my new wife.”

He wrapped one arm around my waist, and with the other, took my hand, clasping it with his. I rested my head against his chest, and he pressed his cheek to the side of my head. We held each other, slow dancing in the early darkness, not even needing any music to find a comfortable rhythm to sway and move to.

During the five minutes or so that we stood there in front of our home dancing, the night grew darker, one by one the stars in the sky became more visible, and a huge, orange full moon began its ascent over the treeline towards the sky.

Gale gently turned me around, then held me with my back pressed to his chest and his arms wrapped snugly around me over the blanket I was using like a shawl, keeping me warm in the cool night. He rested his chin on my shoulder, and pointed up at the moon peeking over the treetops.

With his lips against my ear, he said, “Did you know that the October full moon is called the Hunter's Moon?”

“Really?” I asked.

“It's true. September is the Harvest Moon, and October is the Hunter's Moon. I think it's perfectly fitting that we're both hunters, we met for the first time while we were hunting in these woods, and now we will share our wedding night under the Hunter's Moon.”

I turned back around to face him and looked up at my hunting partner, my best friend, my husband.

“I think it's perfect too. Shall we go inside and start our wedding night?”

“Absolutely.” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips before leading me inside the cabin and closing the door behind us.

“Let me just put some more wood on the fire, it's getting low.” Gale said. While he did that, I quickly put the loaf of toasting bread back in its bag and started putting the rest of the wedding cake back in the box.

Gale called over, “Hey, I never even got to try our cake. Would you cut me a slice, love?”

“Sure.” I answered, grabbing a plate and a fork and putting a big slice of cake on it.

I walked over to him, taking his hand with my left as I held the plate of cake in my right, and led him into the bedroom. I set the plate down on top of his dresser next to the candle we had burning for soft light, picked up the fork and fed him a bite of the cake, then fed myself one.

“Wow, that is really good.” Gale mumbled with his mouth half full. I nodded as I set the fork down on the dresser, then started unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it off.

“Oooh, my wife wants two desserts at once. I like it...” murmured Gale, as I ran my fingers down his chest.

He turned me around, removed the crown of flowers from my hair, and unzipped the back of my dress, slowly sliding the straps off of my shoulders and letting the dress fall to the floor. I turned again to face him, and his eyes scanned me up and down, as I stood before him in nothing but white lace panties and my silver necklace. He reached over to the cake on the dresser, pulled off a bite with his fingers and held it to my lips. I took the cake from him, making sure to suck all the frosting off of his fingers in the process.

I took a step closer to him, and with both hands I unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, then slid them down along with his boxers, so that now he was naked in front of me. I did as he had done, reaching over to the cake and scooping up a chunk with my fingers and feeding it to him.

He stared at me with intense eyes as he held my wrist, making a point of sucking each of my fingers clean, one by one. The feel of his tongue on my fingers made me long to feel his tongue on the rest of my body as well. When he finally finished licking my fingers, he picked up the plate of cake and led me to the bed. He laid me down on my back and set the cake down on the bed next to me. He reclined his body alongside mine, pausing to cup his hand around my breast that was closest to him and bringing his mouth down to my nipple. He softly sucked it, swirling his tongue around it until it grew hard in his mouth before releasing it.

He reached across my body to the cake plate, dug his finger into a thick dollop of frosting, and then painted a line of buttercream all the way down my abdomen. He pressed his mouth between my breasts, kissing over my heart that belonged to only him, then gradually moving his way down my belly, licking and sucking off the line of frosting as he went. I could feel the heat in my core building as he inched further down my body, leaving trails of kisses on my sensitive skin. He was about to lean over and collect another fingerful of frosting when I pressed my hand to his chest, stopping him.

“My turn for dessert.” I stated, easing him down onto his back.

I scooped a big glob of the white frosting on my index finger and did as he had done to me, painting it slowly in a line down his abs. I took my time, running my tongue down his belly, enjoying the sugary, buttery sweetness of the buttercream mixed with the warm saltiness of his skin.

“I have to hand it to Peeta,” Gale sighed as I continued licking him, “he makes a damn good buttercream frosting.”

I lifted my head for just a moment so I could look at him.

“Mmm-hmm. Tastes even better when it's on you.” I smirked, then returned to my wedding night dessert. I inched myself down so I could lick my way further down Gale's body, even though I had reached the end of the line of frosting. I kept going until I could take his hard dick in my mouth, and he gasped with the pleasure of my warm, wet mouth surrounding him. Slowly I teased him, sensually using my tongue on him in different strokes while I took him in and out of my mouth. I could feel his eyes on me, watching me as I happily pleasured him.

 _“Yes...”_ he sighed in a raspy whisper. “That's _so good_.”

Gale's breathing got heavier and his hands raked through my hair as I continued sucking on him, until finally he filled my mouth, releasing with a shudder and groaning loudly with the sexual gratification I'd just given him.

Once he'd caught his breath again, he moved the plate of cake to the nightstand and rolled me onto my back. He leaned over my lower body, hooking his fingers into the sides of the lace panties I was still wearing, and pulled them down my legs, tossing them to the floor.

He placed his hands at my knees, then slid them up my thighs until he was almost at my center, then he spread me wide open. He lowered himself down onto his stomach across the bed with his face between my legs.

“Time for _my_ dessert.” he purred, glancing up over my reclined body and meeting my eyes for a fleeting moment before sliding his warm tongue over my clit, that was eagerly waiting to be pleasured.

 _“Ohhhh!”_ I moaned appreciatively as he pressed his tongue to me, stroking and circling in agonizingly slow motions until I was squirming and moving my hips, begging for him to finish me off.

At last, when I thought I couldn't stand the built up tension anymore, he finally quickened his tongue strokes on me, bringing me to climax, and leaving me panting with overwhelming ecstasy.

As I lay there with my eyes closed and a very satisfied smile on my lips, Gale moved back up over my body until he was on top of me, his hardness pressed between my legs where I was still pulsating with pleasure.

He slid one hand under the back of my head, his fingers tangled in my hair, and the other hand fondled my breast, rubbing my nipple with his thumb. He leaned his head down, resting his forehead to my temple so that his mouth was near my ear.

“You are so wet right now, Katniss. I want to be inside you. Is it too soon for you?”

I didn't even bother to speak, I simply lifted and adjusted my hips a little, so that he slid right inside my entrance.

 _“Yes...”_ he groaned, his voice thick with desire.

He began moving inside of me, starting the buildup of pleasure again before I'd even finished coming down from my first orgasm. My fingers scratched at his back, my lips kissed his cheek, his jaw, his mouth, anywhere I could reach his skin as he thrust himself into me time and time again.

 _“Ohhh, let me ride you Gale!”_ I pleaded.

He quickly and smoothly rolled us over so that now I was on top of him and I could control our pace. His hands were all over me, exploring me as if it were his first time all over again. He slid up my stomach, grabbing onto my breasts with both hands, fondling me while I eagerly fucked him. He moved his hands down my sides on onto my ass, holding on tight, encouraging me to go harder, faster as we both rapidly approached our next release.

He pulled me forward, pressing our chests tightly together as he bucked his pelvis up into me, holding me tightly so that I couldn't escape the intensity of his motions deep within me.

 _“Gale! Gale! Gale!”_ I moaned loudly in those last few seconds before I released.

Thank God we were so far out in the woods, or we would probably be waking up all of District 12 right now.

I came with a magnificent, breathtaking orgasm, my inner muscles clenching around Gale as he climaxed with a lusty groan, his mouth pressed to my shoulder, his ab muscles twitching beneath my belly.

I raised myself up just enough to gaze down upon him, my new husband, the love of my life. He lifted his trembling hands and touched them to my face, then smoothed my hair, tucking it behind my ears.

“I love you, Katniss Hawthorne.” he whispered, then pressed his lips to mine.

 _Katniss Hawthorne,_ I thought to myself. I _definitely_ liked the sound of that.


	9. Full Moon Fever

The Hunter's Moon was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes again later that night, shining in the window over Gale's bed... over _our_ bed, I corrected myself.

 _When had we fallen asleep?_ I wondered. The last thing I remembered, we had just finished having wedding cake and wedding sex, and we were cuddled in each others arms, basking in our newlywed bliss. That must have been a few hours ago, judging by how high the moon was in the sky, and how soundly Gale was sleeping next to me.

I was curled up against his side, my arm draped across his waist and my leg over his thigh, my head resting on his shoulder, and his arm wrapped around me, holding me close. I always feel so small next to Gale when we sleep this way. He's so much taller and bigger than me, that when I'm snuggled down at his side, enveloped in his embrace, I feel completely safe and protected, like nothing could ever harm me. His body is strong and solid, and he radiates heat. Not only literal heat that warms my skin, but _sexual_ heat, that warms my core.

I lifted my head just a little, so I could look at my husband. The sheet and quilt were down at his hips, and I watched his bare chest rise and fall with the steady rhythmic breathing of sleep. The bright, silvery light of the full moon was illuminating our whole bed, so I could see easily, despite the fact that it was well past midnight and the candle we'd brought to the bedroom earlier had long ago sputtered and gone out.

I softly traced my fingertips down his torso, his skin bathed in pale moonlight that accentuated every contour and delineation of his well-defined abs, and I delighted in the realization that this sexy, strapping man sleeping next to me was all mine. Forever.

Even in his sleep, Gale looked authoritative and imposing and just so damn _manly_ , and I suddenly wanted _so badly_ for him to wake up, roll over and dominate me right now. I wanted his mouth and his hands and all of his body on mine... I wanted him to _take_ me, to have his way with me.

“Gale,” I cooed into his ear, as I rubbed my palm over his chest and down his abdomen. “Wake up Gale.”

He stirred a bit, and took a deep breath, not quite fully awake yet, but no longer fully asleep either.

I moved my hand down under the sheet and began playing with my favorite part of his anatomy, sensually rubbing my fingers over him and stroking him until he was hard and throbbing in my hand. I could hear the change in his breathing as I grasped his length more firmly and stroked him harder. When he began shifting his pelvis to meet the motions of my hand, I knew he was awake, before he'd even opened his eyes.

“Mmmm.” he rasped in his gravelly, just-waking-up voice, “You _sure_ know how to get a man's attention.”

“Good, because your wife _needs_ some attention.”

“Does she now?” he asked, rolling towards me a little, and looking at me with seductive eyes. “Does she need attention _here?_ ” he teased, leaning in and kissing my neck. “Or maybe _here?_ ” he asked, as he cupped my breast in his hand and kissed it with his lips and his tongue. “Or does she need it _here?_ ” he breathed, skimming his hand down my abdomen and between my legs, softly rubbing his fingers through my folds, causing a low moan to escape from the back of my throat.

“Mmmm, you're already wet, Mrs. Hawthorne.” he commented as he slowly slid a finger inside of me, teasing me with leisurely movements. “Have you been awake for a while, thinking naughty thoughts?”

“Yes.” I sighed, grinding my hips down to feel his finger deeper within me.

“I can tell. You're dripping down my finger.” he said in a coarse whisper. “What were you thinking about, to get you so hot and bothered?”

“You.” I exhaled, barely able to catch my breath as he continued fingering me. “Doing things to me.”

“What kind of things? Like this?” he asked, as he introduced a second finger into my entrance, making me moan again, with my head thrown back in pleasure.

“Yes!” I managed to gasp.

“And what else?” he questioned, his voice husky with lust. “What else did you want me to do to you?”

“Take control. Make me come. Make me scream your name. Please.” I pleaded.

He withdrew his fingers from inside of me and stared at me with white hot desire in his eyes.

“Take control.” he repeated, savoring the taste of the words in his mouth. Gale loved being in control, especially in the bedroom. So did I, most of the time. But tonight I wanted to give myself to him.

I nodded, then rolled from my side where I'd been facing him, onto my back, without ever breaking our eye contact. I kicked off the sheet and quilt that covered both of our lower bodies, spread my legs wide and stretched both my arms upward above my head towards the headboard, simulating the position he'd had me in the night he tied me to my bed. Gale growled his approval.

“Mmm, yes. I like you like this, with everything out on display for me.” He lightly brushed his fingers between my legs as he spoke in a hushed, yet commanding tone. “Stay in that position. I'm not going to tie you, though. I think I may want your hands free.”

I took a deep breath, shaky with excited anticipation. Gale hungrily looked my body up and down like it was a meal just waiting to be devoured.

“So many things I want to do to you.” he sighed, laying alongside me, lovingly kissing his way down my chest to my belly. “Where to start... Maybe here.”

He slid his first two fingers into my entrance again and pumped them in and out a few times. When they were slick and shining with the wetness that was all but dripping out of me, he pulled them back out and glided them over my clit. Guttural noises escaped my lips at the sensation of his fingers sliding wetly over my sweet spot.

“Yes, you like that, don't you?” he asked, though my pleasure was obvious.

 _“Yes,”_ I moaned weakly.

“I remember doing this to you, the first time I ever made you come. That night in front of the fire. When you'd walked here in the pouring rain.”

My hips rocked up and down as he expertly stroked me with his fingertips.

“Do you remember that Katniss?” he asked.

“Yes,” I responded in a strangled whisper. _As if I could forget._

“I had fantasized so many times about what you looked like naked... stroked myself off more times than I can count, just _imagining_ what it would be like to touch you... and then suddenly there you were that night, lying naked next to me. And it was _so much better_ than I ever could have imagined...”

I moaned and panted with shaky breaths as Gale moved his fingers faster on me while he continued recounting his erotic memory.

“I was _so_ turned on. My fingers were on you and inside of you and you were so wet. I could tell you liked it, and all I could think about was how fucking badly I wanted to watch you come, to watch your face when I gave you that orgasm...”

Without ever missing a stroke of his fingers, he moved himself down so that he was kneeling between my knees, gazing up through my parted legs at my whole body, which was fully at his mercy. I grabbed onto the posts in the center of Gale's headboard with both hands, moaning loudly now as he brought me to the brink of release.

“Just like I want to watch you now, Katniss.” he rasped, his voice losing some of its steadiness as his own excitement built. “Come for me. I want to watch you come when I'm touching you, and then I'm going to watch you come again when I'm fucking you.”

With that, I suddenly climaxed, crying out while arching my back and writhing my hips and curling my toes as the powerful contractions of pleasure rippled through my body. Before I'd even caught my breath, Gale had moved his body up over my own, and I opened my eyes to find him face to face with me, sucking my wetness off of his fingers. When he pulled his fingers from his mouth, he wrapped them around my breast and then brought his mouth down, suckling my nipple.

“Oh, Gale,” I started to sigh, but the sound was swallowed up by his mouth as his lips found mine and his tongue was thrust inside, kissing me deeply, passionately. When he pulled away from the kiss, he eased himself backwards again, until he was back kneeling between my quivering legs, his hands caressing over my breasts, down my abdomen, skimming up and down over my inner thighs.

“God, you are one fucking sexy sight to behold,” he breathed as he admired my body, awash in the luminous silvery moonbeam coming in the window.

I loved the way Gale talked dirty and swore when he was turned on. He hardly ever cursed any other time, not even when our fiery tempers flared and we argued with each other. But get him naked and excited, and there was just something about how the word “fuck” dripped easily off his lips like sweet nectar that thrilled me every time.

“You're so wet, you're glistening.” he said in a low, sultry voice. His eyes and his fingers were on my lower lips, and now so was his mouth, as he couldn't resist leaning down and pressing his tongue up through my center and over where I was hypersensitive from the orgasm I was still reeling from.

 _“Oh!”_ I gasped sharply, my hips bucking as he circled his tongue on me. “Gale!” I pleaded, as my head spun. I was drowning in pleasure, but I wanted more of him. _“I need-”_ I panted. _“I need-”_

“This?” he asked, as he pulled his mouth away and guided his hardness to my entrance, sliding it back and forth through my folds.

“Yes! I _need_ you, _please!_ ” I begged shamelessly.

“Maybe I should go _real slowly_ at first, like this...” he smirked, sliding himself just halfway into me, then pulling out. Three times he did this to me, before I couldn't stand his teasing anymore.

“No! I need _more,_ Gale!” I demanded. Then I released my hands from their grip on his headboard, and leaned forward, grabbing a fistful of his hair at the back of his head. _“Harder!”_ I hissed at him, my eyes wild and needful. “Fuck me like you mean it!”

That got Gale's attention. He licked his lips, then flashed me a wicked grin.

“Oh, are you in trouble now, Katniss Hawthorne.”

 _Good!_ I thought to myself, smiling mischievously back at him as I let go of his hair. That was exactly what I wanted. I loved when Gale was smooth and sensual and made love to me, but right now I was _way_ past that, and I just wanted him to fuck me into oblivion. When he was _most_ aroused, when he was aggressive and dominating and fully overtaken by his lust for me, _that_ was when Gale could really rock my world. And _that_ was the Gale that I needed right this moment. I needed my hunter.

“Turn over.” he growled at me, flipping me onto my stomach. He grabbed onto my hips with both hands and lifted my back end up roughly, so that I was up on my knees with my ass sticking up in the air in front of him, but my chest was angled down, with my cheek pressed into my pillow. Then he grasped both of my wrists and stretched my arms out in front of me, wrapping both my hands around the posts in his headboard.

“Hold on tight, love.” he murmured into my ear. “It's gonna be a rough ride.”

_Oh, boy, this was going to be good._

I felt his hands slide from my wrists, up my arms, over my shoulders, down my back, and then come to rest on my ass, which he was kneeling in front of.

“Damn, Katniss, you must have the sexiest ass in all of Panem.” he purred.

But before I could even think of a smartass comeback, I had my breath taken away by Gale diving into my wet, waiting pussy and slamming his entire length into me in one thrust.

 _“Ohhh!”_ I cried out at the delicious sensation of Gale's thick cock filling me, pulling out, and then slamming into me again.

“Is this what you wanted?” he grunted as his abdomen slapped loudly against my ass.

 _“Yes!”_ I managed to whimper.

“You like when I fuck you hard like this.” he panted gruffly at me. “Don't you?”

_“Yes!”_

“Yes, WHAT?” he demanded.

“YES, GALE!” I wailed, as my heart raced with exhilaration and I gasped for air, wetness dripping down my thighs each time he backed out of me.

“Say it again!” he barked at me, the slight tremor in his voice giving away his own enjoyment.

 _“YES GALE!”_ I moaned feverishly. “Yes, Gale, oh fucking God, _YES GALE!_ ”

Over and over, he went at me like this, pounding into me with reckless abandon, pulling my hips backwards with both hands to meet every thrust. I held on to the bedposts until my knuckles were white, biting the edge of the pillow to muffle my screams of ecstasy as Gale fucked me relentlessly.

“God, you feel so fucking good!” he groaned. He reached his right hand around my hip to massage my clit. Incoherent moans of delirious elation escaped my mouth, as the combination of him fucking me and pleasuring me simultaneously became too much to bear.

“Gale!” I moaned into my pillow, as I felt my orgasm rapidly approaching.

 _“Feel me.”_ he implored, leaning in over me now, as he continued rocking my body with his motions.

Oh, I was feeling him, alright. Every nerve ending in my body was feeling him. His fingers on me, his hardness deep within me, the slick wetness where our bodies were joined, the heat radiating off his chest on my back, the tickle of his ragged breaths on my skin, and his love- always his fierce, unconditional love- that accompanied our intimacy, even when it was rough.

 _“Gale!”_ I moaned again, louder this time.

“Come for me.” he pleaded between trembling, erratic breaths.

“Come _with_ me, Gale!” I somehow managed to get out, the last intelligible words my lips were able to form before my body released and I fell apart, shattering into a million pieces. My whole body felt flooded with exquisite pleasure, and even more so when Gale came immediately after me, moaning my name hoarsely over and over as he wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged his chest to my back, his lips pressed against my heated skin.

We rocked together a few more times, slowly, before we collapsed down onto the bed, exhausted, sweaty, with Gale spooned behind me, still with his arms around me. We just lay there together in our marriage bed, once again drifting towards sleep.

My mind swirled with thoughts as I entered the dreamy twilight place between being awake and asleep. I couldn't have imagined it a year ago, if someone had told me I'd be married to Gale Hawthorne. But now that I had him, I knew that I would love this man- my best friend, my hunter, my husband- for the rest of my life.

“I love you Gale.” I whispered softly, not knowing if he was even still awake to hear me. But I wanted to say it anyway.

“Love you too...” came the whispered reply from behind me. _“Always.”_


	10. Getting Clean, Then Dirty

_Drip._

I felt a drop of water land on my cheek while I was still sleeping, and I wiped it away, annoyed.

 _“Catnip...”_ I heard in my ear, followed by another drip of water on my face.

 _God, that's irritating!_ I thought, scowling, still half asleep. I swiped my arm across my face, wiping away the drop of water, then opened up my eyes to see Gale hovering over me. His hair was wet, and that's what had been dripping on me.

“Good morning beautiful.” he greeted me cheerfully.

“Why are you up so early?” I groaned sleepily. “And why is your hair wet and dripping on me?”

“Because I just took a bath a little while ago.”

“You took a bath without me?” I pretended to pout.

“Oh, don't worry, you were there.” Gale smirked. “I must have replayed our events of last night in my head at least ten times while I was sitting there. You sure were wild last night. It was _awesome_.” he purred, leaning in to kiss me.

“Must have been the full moon. Brought out the animal in me.” I teased.

“And here I thought it was _me_ that had that effect on you...” Gale joked.

“Oh, you do. _Believe me,_ you do.” I stated, with a coy grin, before adding, “You know, we could have just walked to my house and taken showers if you wanted to.” I said, stretching as I tried to wake up fully.

“No way.” he replied with a huge smile. “We are on our honeymoon this week, and I am not sharing you with anyone. _No one_. You are all mine, all week.”

I couldn't help but smile back at him. I had to admit, spending seven whole days doing nothing but playing with Gale _did_ sound like a pretty fantastic way to spend the week.

“I just finished fixing you a bath too.” he continued. “The basin's out by the fireplace. Come on, why don't you get in while the water's still nice and hot?”

“Okay, you talked me into it.” I chuckled, swinging my feet down onto the floor. He reached out and took my hand, leading me out to the fireplace, where the large basin sat, half full of nice warm water.

“It must have taken you forever to carry and heat up all this water!” I said. “This was so nice of you, Gale.”

“Nah, it wasn't so bad.” he replied modestly. “Besides, I like pampering you, so it was no trouble.”

He kept holding my hand as I stepped in and sat down. The basin was big enough that if I bent my knees, I could sit fairly comfortably. It was a bit more crowded for Gale when he took baths, since he was nearly a foot taller than me. He barely fit in this tub when he sat down, even with his knees pulled up to his chest. The hot water felt wonderful as I sank down into it, as low as I could get.

“Ahh...” I sighed with enjoyment.

“Feel nice?” Gale asked.

“Sooo nice.”

I watched Gale strip off all the clothes he'd put on to fetch my bathwater, and then kneel directly behind me up against the washtub.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked with a curious grin, leaning my head backwards on the edge of the tub, so that I was looking at him upside down.

He bent down, left a soft kiss on my upside down lips, then replied, “I'm going to help you with your bath.”

“No fair,” I giggled. “I didn't get to help you.”

“I never said I played fair, Catnip.” he smirked mischievously. “You'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to try to beat me at my game.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Now lean forward and tip your head back so I can wet your hair.”

He poured cupfuls of water over my hair and washed it, gently combing out all the tangles with his fingers before rinsing it out again. The tingling sensation of him running his fingers through my hair, over my scalp and down the back of my neck while I soaked in the warm water was heavenly.

Next he soaped up his palms and gave me a long backrub, kneading up and down my back muscles with his strong hands, then rinsed me off.

“You can lean back now.” he said softly.

I reclined back against the edge of the washtub, and he rested his hands on my shoulders, leaned down and began kissing and sucking on the side of my neck. As my pulse gradually began to quicken under his kisses, I felt his hands slide down my chest and come to rest on the underside of my breasts. My nipples perked up as his fingers skimmed the rounded contours just under the surface of the water.

“So beautiful...” Gale breathed into my ear, eliciting an instant pulsing response between my legs, making me squeeze my thighs together against the delicious arousal rising there. He flattened his palms against my ribs, slid them slowly down my sides, and then continued up the front of my thighs. He stopped halfway to my knees, and began inching his way inward.

“Open.” he instructed me in a throaty whisper, and I complied, not able nor wanting to resist. I couldn't spread my legs _too_ far open inside the narrow washtub, but it was just enough for him to squeeze his hand down between my thighs. I felt his right hand slide its way down to my center, then his fingers spreading my lips open. The warm water of the bath felt hot and wonderful on my most sensitive skin, and when his fingers began tracing light, slow strokes up and down between my folds, I couldn't hold back the low moan of pleasure that escaped my mouth.

“My dirty girl likes being bathed.” Gale murmured, his lips pressed to the outside of my ear as he spoke, then they traveled down to my earlobe, which he caught lightly between his teeth. The combination of his nibbling and his hot breath tickling my ear sent shivers of excitement down my spine and straight to the place between my legs where his fingers were stroking me.

“I should give you baths more often.”

“I'll gladly get dirty more regularly if you want.”

“Hmmm, I _do_ like when you get _really_ dirty,” Gale said, smirking at the double entendre.

He slowly pulled his hand out from between my legs so that he had both hands free to lavish attention on my breasts again. He lathered them up with soap, then rubbed his hands in circular motions over them, gliding over the slippery layer of soap suds, very gently squeezing and tugging on the pink peaks of my nipples. Then he cupped his hands, scooping up handfuls of the warm bathwater and rinsing all the soap from my chest. I could feel his eyes looking over my shoulder, gazing hungrily at my breasts bobbing in the bathwater, my wet skin sparkling and glistening in the flickering glow of the fireplace we were sitting in front of.

Gale kissed my shoulder softly, then moved his hands to the underside of my hips and followed the soft curve of my bottom until he reached the back of my legs. Then he hooked his hands under my bent knees and lifted them up, placing them so that my feet and lower legs hung outside the washtub on both sides, my knees draped over the edge. Now, with my lower legs out of the tub, my thighs were spread much wider.

“My feet are dripping water all over the floor.” I laughed lightly.

“Don't care. It'll dry.” Gale answered, as he kissed up my neck to my jawline.

I felt his right hand skim down my abdomen under the water, and down between my thighs again.

“Ah, that's better, isn't it Catnip?” he sighed, referring to my widely parted legs. “Now I can really bathe you properly. You do want me to do a good job, don't you?”

“Yes, Gale.” I breathed.

“Now where did I leave off before? Oh yes, I believe it was _here._ ” he said, using his long fingers to part my lower lips once again, and then sliding one of them inside of me.

I inhaled deeply, slowly at the pleasant feeling of him moving gently in and out of me.

“Does it feel good?” he whispered.

“Yes,” I replied, moving my hips in slow circles.

“But I know my wife, and what she _really_ likes... is _this._ ” Gale said, pulling out of me and adjusting his hand slightly, to circle over my clit with his first two fingers.

“Ohhh, yes....” I sighed, letting my head fall backwards, resting against Gale's shoulder.

“That's right, love.” he said softly into my ear. “I want you to completely relax, and think of nothing but my hands pleasuring you.”

I couldn't have thought of anything else if I tried. His right hand was stroking me closer and closer to orgasm, while his left hand caressed and fondled my left breast. His lips were on my neck and my cheek and my ear, and I could hear his own breaths, shaky with his ever increasing arousal, as I writhed my hips faster in appreciation of what he was doing to me. I could feel my pulse racing as I teetered on the edge of my climax.

His fingers were circling my flesh rapidly now underneath the bathwater, making me gasp and tremble.

“Are you coming?” he rasped, though he knew damn well I was, he just got off on hearing me say it.

“Yes, Gale! Ohh, I'm coming, Gale!” I moaned lustily, my head thrown back against his shoulder, as my orgasm took me over, the water sloshing in the tub as I arched my back in response to the spasms of pleasure between my quivering thighs.

“Yes... Ohhh, yes...” I sighed, my eyelashes fluttering against Gale's cheek as my eyes rolled back in my head with ecstasy. When my body finally became still again, I reached up behind Gale's head and pulled his mouth to mine, thanking him with a long, passionate kiss.

“Watching you come gets me so fucking turned on.” he said, with our faces still touching.

“I can help you with that.” I said, meeting his eyes. “Pull that chair over here.” I told him, motioning to the wooden chair we always kept next to the hearth.

While he did that, I brought my legs back into the washtub and sat up straight, turning around to face him.

“Put the chair right here, up against the tub where you were just kneeling.” I instructed, and he did. “Now sit down, and put your feet in the tub with me.”

Gale did as I asked, sitting on the chair, spreading his legs and placing his feet in the water. I got up on my knees and leaned in between his legs.

“I owe you a proper thank you for that wonderful, full-service bath.” I smiled up at him, while he ran his fingers through my damp hair.

I kept my eyes locked on his as I dipped my right hand into the water, then brought it between his legs and wrapped it around his hardness. My wet hand slid over his hot skin as I stroked him slowly, and he moaned lightly under his breath, his eyes closing as he enjoyed my touch.

“Don't close your eyes.” I said. “I like when you watch me.”

I lowered my mouth, running my tongue over the smooth tip of him, tasting the droplet of warm, slightly salty fluid that had already collected there, then tracing wet circles around him.

I paused to look up and see if he was still watching me. He was. His gray eyes burned with the heat of molten silver as he watched.

“Would you like to see more?” I teased.

“You know I would.” he whispered, his words heavy with desire, as he trailed his thumb over my lower lip before curling his fingers gently behind the curve of my jaw and bringing my mouth back down onto his cock. This time I took him all the way to the back of my throat, the way I knew he liked it, and then sucked hard each time I pulled back.

“Yes...” he moaned roughly. His hands found themselves tangled in my hair, while he guided me up and down on him, showing me the pace he wanted.

“Fuck, Katniss.” he groaned in delectation, finding it harder and harder to watch now, when all he wanted to do was squeeze his eyes shut, surrender to the pleasure and come in my mouth.

I gave him permission by sucking him harder and faster, and finally he gave in and did just that. He jerked and shuddered, spilling himself hotly into my waiting mouth.

“Damn, you are amazing.” he exhaled with trembling breath.

I just smiled coyly, licking my lips to show that I wanted to enjoy every drop of him, as I sat back on my heels in the bathwater.

Gale moved one of his hands from my hair to my cheek, caressing it lovingly, before reaching down to take my hand and help me up out of the bath.

I stepped out onto the rug, and he wrapped me in a towel, pulling me close to his body. We stood there, holding each other in front of the crackling fire, both wrapped in the same towel, for several minutes.

“Well this was certainly a nice way to start the first day of our honeymoon.” I said to Gale, looking up at him and smiling sweetly.

“Mmm.” he agreed. “All this fun, and we haven't even had breakfast yet. I think we are going to have a _wonderful_ week together. I want to pleasure you in every way I can think of.”

“Maybe we better make our honeymoon _two_ weeks then, just to be on the safe side.” I giggled.

“Maybe we will, love. Maybe we just will.”

And with that, Gale leaned down to kiss me. Who needs breakfast anyway?


	11. Sensory Perception, Part One

“The sunset is beautiful tonight, isn't it?” Gale said, as he approached me from behind and handed me a mug of steaming hot tea. The warm mug felt wonderful in my freezing cold hands.

I was looking out one of the windows in the cabin at the pastel colors on the horizon, as the sun was sinking into the treeline.

“It sure is.” I said, taking a sip and enjoying its warmth. “Good thing I got us home before it set all the way.” I teased, giving him a smartass smirk.

We had just gotten back from a long walk in the woods. We'd done a little hunting while we were out, and we managed to catch a plump rabbit that we'd be enjoying later for dinner, but mostly we'd just gone out to walk together hand in hand and enjoy this lovely, crisp fall afternoon. We had walked a long way from home, just rambling in no particular direction, and after a while Gale started to tease me that we were lost.

“Maybe _you_ are.” I snorted. “I'm _never_ lost. I know these woods like the back of my hand.”

“Really? Which way is home?” he tested me. I looked around, analyzed where the sun was in the sky, which side of the trees the moss grew on, and which direction it sounded like the river was babbling in the distance.

“It's over there.” I said, pointing to my right with absolute certainty.

“Wrong.” he said. “It's over there.” he countered, pointing to his left.

“Is _not,_ Gale!”

“Is too!”

“Fine then.” I teased. “How about you go your way, I'll go mine, and we'll see who gets home first.”

I turned on my heel and started walking away from him. Luckily he couldn't see the huge grin on my face, because I knew he wouldn't let me walk away from him like that.

I hadn't even made it ten paces when Gale ran up behind me, grabbed me around my waist and pulled me to the ground, rolling on top of me in the carpet of freshly fallen oak and maple leaves.

“Did you really think I was going to let you walk away?” he asked, capturing my lips between his for a playful kiss. “As much as I enjoy looking at your backside, I much prefer looking at you like this.”

“Me too.” I said against his lips.

“You know, if it was warmer out, I'd undress you and make love to you right here in the leaves.” he said smoothly. “I'm certainly in the mood to.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” I grinned, as I lifted my hips up, pressing myself more firmly against his hardness that I could easily feel even through his pants and mine.

“Guess I'm not the only one feeling a little frisky.” he purred, running his tongue up the curve of my ear. His tongue felt hot on my ear, that was red and tingling from the chilly air.

“Guess we'd better find our way home then, because there's no way I'm taking my clothes off in these temperatures!” I said.

“Why not? I'd keep you warm. You know, they say that bare, skin to skin contact is the best way to survive when you're facing hypothermia.” he told me, trying to act all nonchalant and informational.

“I'll be sure to remember that later, when you've gotten us hopelessly lost and you're telling me how you wish you'd listened to me when I told you home was that way.” I replied sarcastically.

“Okay, fine. You win, we'll go your way.” he huffed, faking the dramatic resignation of defeat. “I suppose we'd better get going before it gets dark.” he continued, as he rolled off of me, stood up and reached down for my hand to help me stand. “Lead the way, forest expert Everdeen.”

 _“Hawthorne.”_ I corrected, grinning.

“Right. Hawthorne.” he repeated with his lopsided flirty smile that always drove me wild.

I knew that Gale was just bullshitting me, that he knew as well as I did where home was, but that he just couldn't resist testing me when I knew I was right about something. It used to drive me crazy, back in the days when we were just friends and hunting partners. I would get so mad, and just argue with him incessantly. He would infuriate me by laughing at me, the more I argued my point, whatever it was, until he finally would give in and admit I was right. But now that we were together, and I knew how he operated, I realized that all those times he picked disagreements with me over stupid stuff, he hadn't been trying to piss me off. It had been his way of flirting with me.

I brushed the leaves off of my clothes, took his hand again and we walked together, Gale holding the game bag and my bow slung over his shoulder. I led the way, following the route I knew by heart, and in no time we were standing at our front door.

“Imagine that!” I remarked facetiously. “I knew the way home!”

“I shall never doubt your woodland expertise again, Mrs. Hawthorne.” Gale vowed with a twinkle in his eye, sealing his promise with a kiss. “Come on, let's go in and warm up by the fire. Maybe once you're warm, we can start peeling off some of these layers of clothes.” he said, winking his eye at me.

So, when Gale came to me with the tea to warm me up, and wrapped his arms around my waist, I knew he had one thing on his mind, and that was to pick up where we had left off when we were lying on the forest floor in each others' arms.

“You getting warmer, Catnip?” he asked, nuzzling his nose into the side of my neck.

“I am now.” I answered. “Why? You wanna fool around?” Like I really needed to ask.

“Better than that.” he mumbled against my neck between kisses.

“What could be better than that?” I asked, truly curious what his devilish mind was thinking.

“We're going to play a game.”

 _Gale wanted to play a game rather than going to bed?_ I found that hard to believe.

“Come with me.” he said, taking my tea and setting it on the table. He held my hand and led me in front of the fireplace, pulling the chair into the middle of the floor.

“Sit down.” he instructed. I sat down while he remained standing, looking down at me. “Here's how the game works. It's called _'Let's see how well Katniss can identify things_ _found in the woods of district 12'_. I figured that since you are oh-so-knowledgeable, you wouldn't mind putting your vast woodland knowledge to the test. The rules are simple. I bring things to you and you have to tell me what it is.”

_“That's it?”_

“That's it.”

I burst out laughing. “You're kidding right? You _know_ I know these woods as well as you. Maybe _better_ than you.”

“We'll see.” he said slyly, as he walked around behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, squeezing gently while he leaned his face down next to my ear. “Every time you get one right, I'll reward you.” he said in a very low, sultry voice, while his right hand snaked its way down my abdomen and into the front of my pants, sneaking under my panties and teasing my clit.

I sucked my breath in sharply at the instant throbbing rush of warmth that his fingers had kindled between my thighs. He let his fingers linger there for a few seconds, slowly grazing over my clit before he went on with his explanation.

“But if you get it wrong,” he continued, “I'll punish you.” With those last words, he quickly pulled his hand out of my pants, abruptly ending the delicious pleasure that had just begun to build.

“Sounds fun.” I admitted...especially since I didn't see how I could possibly lose. Gale would be pretty hard pressed to find anything in these woods that I couldn't identify.

“So you accept the challenge?” he asked, still standing behind me, loosening my braid and running his fingers through my hair.

“I accept. I'm in the mood to be rewarded, so bring me anything you want.” I asserted confidently.

“Oh yeah,” Gale said, “I almost forgot. There's one more _little tiny_ rule.”

I got an instant shiver down my spine when he suddenly touched his lips to my ear again and whispered roughly. _“You'll be blindfolded.”_

Before I could even protest, my stealthy hunter had wrapped my silk scarf over my eyes and tied it behind my head so I couldn't see a thing.

“Oh, that's _so_ not fair, Gale!”

“I told you this morning.” he murmured into my ear. _“I don't play fair.”_

“How am I supposed to know what you're showing me if I can't see it?”

“I expect you to think like a hunter. Use your other senses.” he paused for just a second before carrying on.

 _“Listen.”_ he whispered, running one finger delicately around the curve of my outer ear.

 _“Smell things,”_ nuzzling his nose over the side of my neck, inhaling my scent.

 _“Taste things,”_ as he reached around from behind me, his index finger slowly sliding across my parted lips and then into my mouth, letting me suck on his finger for a moment before withdrawing it.

 _“Feel things,”_ as he soundlessly walked back in front of me, lifted my right hand and held my palm flat to the bare skin of his chest, then with his hand over mine, slid it down over his abdomen until the heel of my palm rested on his belt buckle.

_Holy shit, when did Gale get his shirt all unbuttoned?_

The way he could move with such silence and grace both unnerved and excited me. I knew he was trying to throw off my concentration, and it was working.

“Are you ready for your first test?” he asked.

“Yes.” I answered, hoping that the slight tremor in my voice didn't betray the confidence I was trying to exude.

“Okay. Wait here.” he told me.

I waited for what felt like forever, even though in reality it was probably less than 30 seconds.

“We'll start with an easy one.” Gale said. “Tell me what you feel.”

I felt something brush across my cheek and over my lips, then over my chin and down the front of my neck until he reached as far down into my cleavage as he could reach without unbuttoning my shirt.

“Feels cool...soft...smooth...like petals.” I said.

Then he took my hand and placed the item in my palm. I touched it with my other hand, and could feel a stem.

“It's a flower.” I stated.

“What kind?”

I felt the petals with my fingers. The petals were short. The center of the flower was wide and flat, and its stem was thick and sturdy. I held it to my nose. Not much scent.

“It's a sunflower!” I exclaimed. “One of those little baby sunflowers from my wedding bouquet!”

“Correct.” Gale said. “Now, you get a reward.”

I sensed him down low in front of me, probably on his knees, as his fingers drifted from my collarbones down into my cleavage, then set to work, taking his sweet time unbuttoning my shirt. When all the buttons were opened, he pushed it gradually back off my shoulders, his lips hovering so close to the skin on my neck that I could feel his hot, trembling breaths as he eased the sleeves down my arms. I heard the shirt get tossed aside onto the floor, then felt him reaching behind me to unhook my bra. He slid the straps over my shoulders, then that piece of clothing joined my shirt on the floor.

For a few seconds, there was nothing more. No sounds, no touching. But I had that sense that Gale was staring at me...that feeling like his eyes were devouring my skin while I sat here defenseless and unseeing.

I gasped in surprise when his fingers suddenly reached out and ever so softly caressed the underside of both my breasts, causing my nipples to instantly tighten and perk up, wanting his attention too. He obliged, and ran his fingers over both nipples, gently squeezing their now firm peaks.

“I love that I can have that effect on you.” he whispered. I just swallowed dryly.

“Are you ready for your next test?” he asked.

“Yes.” I answered hoarsely. I sat still in the chair, waiting for the next item.

I felt Gale approach me, and then felt him delicately sweeping something across my shoulder blades, then he came around to my front, tickling both of my breasts with it.

“Whatever it is,” I began describing, “it's light. Dry. Papery.”

He ran it from the inside of my elbow out to my wrist, then left it in my hand for me to study further. It was thin, almost as thin as paper, and smelled slightly sweet and woodsy. I traced my fingers all around the edge, feeling its rounded points and a slender stem at the bottom.

“It's a leaf! A dry, fallen oak leaf.” I said proudly.

“Right again. Well done.” Gale commended me. “You've earned another reward.”

He leaned his face into my chest, cupped both of my breasts in his hands, and began kissing my nipples one at a time, circling and lapping at them, running his tongue over their erect points, taking them into his warm mouth and sucking on them. While his mouth continued raining wet tongue kisses all over my breasts, his hands slid down and went to work unbuttoning and unzipping my pants.

“Lift up.” he muttered, his mouth still pressed to my breast. I lifted my bottom just enough so he could pull my pants down over my hips and drag them down my legs. He pulled them from my ankles, then pulled my socks off my feet as well.

The room was plenty warm from the fire in the fireplace, so I didn't need all these clothes anyway.

I sat quietly before him in the chair, now wearing nothing but my panties and the silk scarf that blindfolded me.

Without getting up from the place where he knelt between my knees, Gale asked if I was ready for the next one.

“Mmm-hmm” I answered, nodding my head.

This one, he didn't tease me with. He simply took my hand and placed the item in my palm. It was solid, felt slightly cool, had some weight to it, and was no bigger than a chicken egg. I moved it back and forth between my two hands, trying to figure it out by feeling the shape and size of it. The edges were kind of bumpy and jagged in places, so I knew it wasn't a river stone. Those were rounded and smooth. I wanted to guess that it was a plain old rock, but I figured that Gale wouldn't make it that easy. I thought hard about it. What else might be found around here that felt like a rock, but wasn't?

“Coal!” I suddenly guessed out loud. “It must be coal!”

“Is that your final answer?” he questioned.

“Yes.”

“Well, I'm sorry to say, but you're wrong. It's not coal.” he informed me.

“What? Then what is it?” I asked. “Don't tell me its just a rock!”

“Nope, not a rock either. It's a piece of white quartz.”

“No fair, Gale!” I laughed. “There's _no way_ I ever could have figured that out without seeing it!”

 _“I know.”_ he replied deviously. “Now I get to punish you.”

He slid his hands up my thighs to my hips, hooked his fingers in the sides of my panties and peeled them off of me, pulling them slowly down my legs, removing them from one ankle and then the other. He grabbed onto my ass, pulling me forward until I was sitting on the very edge of the chair, then I felt the heat of his breath as he pushed my legs apart wider and kissed his way up my left thigh and parted my folds with his tongue.

I gasped, gulping in air sharply at the pleasure I hadn't been expecting.

“I thought you were going to punish me.” I choked out.

“I am.” he mumbled, with his lips pressed against my lower lips.

It didn't make sense to me, but I wasn't about to question it. I could certainly think of much worse punishments than having Gale's mouth buried in my pussy.

Having the blindfold on made it a very interesting experience. I couldn't watch him, like I usually did. So I had a heightened awareness of the rest of the sensory experience that I usually took no notice of. In addition to how good his tongue felt on me, I suddenly noticed the sounds he made... the lapping and sucking of his tongue as he pleasured my swollen clit, and the barely audible little sighs and grunts that escaped his mouth as he savored my taste while he worked. The way his hands felt as they held my thighs apart, slowly rubbing my skin with his thumbs. The faint, musky scent of my own arousal as it dripped out of me.

The whole experience was so sexy and sensual, that I was racing towards orgasm in no time. I ran my fingers through the back of Gale's hair as I lifted my hips in rhythmic circles to meet his mouth, breathing harder and faster as my pleasure built.

“Gale!” I moaned as I felt my body tense up, only seconds from releasing.

Then he abruptly stopped what he was doing, pulled his mouth away, and closed my legs.

I gasped in disbelief.

“No, Gale, don't stop!” I begged shamelessly.

“You're being punished.” he reminded me. “You don't get to come yet. You have to earn it. So you better hope you get the next one right.”

 _Shit._ He really did play dirty.

I sighed loudly.

“You ready for the next one?” he asked.

“How am I supposed to concentrate after that?”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll manage, if you want the reward badly enough.” he replied, then he took my hand and said, “Stand up.”

I heard the legs of the chair scrape lightly across the floor as he pulled it away.

I stood there waiting for a few moments before finally I felt him sweep something softly across my upper back and then down my spine.

I had no way of knowing yet, but what he held in his hand was a slender branch, only about 12 inches long, of white pine, tender and flexible with tufts of long, soft, pliable green pine needles at the end.

“It's something a little bit soft and tickly.” I said.

It felt especially tickly when he slowly dragged it across my bottom, then pulled it away.

I waited a moment, but nothing touched me.

Then, with a lightning fast flick of his wrist, he lightly whipped it across my left ass cheek.

I sucked in a sharp breath in surprise, as the faint sting faded into a pleasantly warm tingle.

“How did that feel?” he breathed heavily into my ear. I could tell that he'd enjoyed doing that.

“I'm not sure.” I answered, with just the tiniest grin on my mouth. “Do it again.”

I heard him moan slightly under his breath as he brushed the soft needles across my backside again, the pleasure before the pain. Then he pulled it away, letting my anticipation build, before doing the same motion as before, lightly whipping the branch across my right ass cheek this time.

Just as the first time, I flinched when the branch connected with my skin, feeling the brief moment of sting before the tingling warmth. I liked it.

“It felt good.” I whispered.

I heard Gale take a deep breath and then exhale, before reaching for my hand and brushing the branch across my palm.

“Tell me what it is.” he instructed me.

I ran my fingers over the thin, slender branch and out to the soft, silky long needles. I brought it to my face and instantly recognized its sweet pine scent.

“It's a pine branch...white pine.”

“Excellent.” he murmured, taking the branch from me and tossing into the fireplace. “I think that's enough of the game.”

I reached up to pull the blindfold off of my eyes, but Gale stopped me.

“No, leave it on.” he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling my bare chest against his. “They say that when one of your senses is taken away, the others compensate by becoming more attuned. I want you to get the most out of the reward you've earned. Starting now.”

He took my right hand, lifted it up to his lips and softly kissed my fingertips.

“Kiss me, Katniss.” he whispered.

I moved my hand to his cheek and pulled him down to meet my mouth, kissing him lightly at first, enjoying my acute awareness of the warmth and softness of his lips as they brushed against mine. I leaned into him, pressing our mouths more firmly together, my lips parting to invite his tongue... an invitation he readily accepted. As his tongue met mine, I recognized the faint taste of my own arousal that still lingered there, sending an instant rush of want and need between my legs, to where I yearned to feel the heat of his tongue lapping at my clit again.

“Gale,” I sighed when his mouth left mine to begin leisurely making its way down the side of my throat. “I _need_ you. Take me to bed. _Please!_ ”

“So impatient.” he murmured, grinning against my throat. “You haven't even undressed me yet.”

I knew his shirt was already all unbuttoned, so I moved my hands up his chest, blindly finding his shirt and sliding it back off of his shoulders and down his arms, then throwing it to the floor. Once he was shirtless, I placed both of my hands on his forearms and slid my way up to his shoulders, then with my palms flat against his skin, I slid my hands slowly down his chest and over his abs, memorizing every contour of his beautiful body.

“Like what you feel?” he asked, placing his hands on top of mine.

“Mmm-hmm.” I nodded, leaning in to kiss his chest, slowly moving my mouth over his warm smooth skin, inhaling his familiar, woodsy scent as I covered him in kisses. He smelled like a sexy combination of his own scent mixed with fresh air from our walk in the woods, and the spicy, herbal fragrance of the soap we'd both used in our baths this morning. “You _smell_ good too.”

My lips grazed over one of his nipples, and I flicked my tongue over it, eliciting a guttural sound from Gale, that I felt rumble up through his chest as much as I heard it.

I continued making my way sightlessly down his abdomen, exploring him with my hands and mouth until I was kneeling in front of him with my fingers on his belt buckle. I could feel him watching me. Even with the blindfold on, I could feel his eyes burning, intently watching my every move, thoroughly turned on by the thought that he was in control of this little game, and that I was at his mercy because I couldn't see. But I was about to take some of that control back.

I moved my right hand down off of his belt to where his pants bulged from his huge erection straining against the fabric. I rubbed my hand up and down over him, feeling his cock pulse and twitch through the material of his pants.

“Take my pants off.” Gale instructed me.

“ _Now_ who's impatient?” I teased. “I'll take them off...when I'm ready.”

He growled at me, but I just carried on with what I was doing, cupping him over his pants, running my thumb along his length, smoothing my hands over his thighs.

I pressed my mouth to his abdomen just above the waist of his pants, trailing my tongue along his skin while his hands rested on my shoulders, squeezing them impatiently as his desire grew.

 _“Please,”_ he groaned, “take my pants off. I want your mouth on me.”

“My mouth _is_ on you.” I retorted, my lips curled into a smirk against the warmth of his abdomen, as I slid both my hands around to his backside and squeezed his ass playfully.

“You know what I mean.”

“I'm not sure I do, Gale.” I replied innocently, between teasing kisses left softly upon his stomach. “Tell me. What do you want?”

He reached down and quickly unbuckled his belt, but before he could unbutton his pants, I grabbed both of his wrists.

“I said TELL me!” I reprimanded him, holding his wrists at his sides.

Oh, how I wished I wasn't blindfolded, that I could see his face right now, because judging from his breathing and the rapid pulse I could feel at his wrists, he was _very_ excited by the turn this game had just taken.

“If you're not going to let me _see_ you, then you're going to let me _hear_ you. You will talk dirty to me, and you will _tell me what you want._ ”

He took a deep, shaky breath, and I let go of his wrists, moving my hands up to start unbuttoning his pants.

“Now be a good boy, Gale, and start talking.”

“ _Holy shit,_ ” he muttered under his breath, momentarily caught off guard and flustered by my demand.

“I don't hear any sexy talk.” I said. “This is _sooo_ boring.” I faked a huge yawn.

That snapped Gale into action. He wrapped his fist in the back of my hair and tugged on it just enough to get my attention.

“You better close that sexy, smartass mouth of yours unless you plan on putting something in it.” he scolded me.

A huge grin crept onto my face.

“Now _that's_ more like it.” I purred.

“Now take my pants off of me.” he commanded, his voice gravelly and dripping with lust, his hand tugging at my hair again. “That's the third time I've asked. Make me ask again and I'll bend you over and spank your disobedient ass.”

I was so turned on by the thought of Gale spanking me that for a split second, I actually contemplated making him ask again, but ultimately decided against it.

I unzipped his pants and slowly pulled them down along with his underwear. I slid them down his legs until he could step out of them.

“That's a good girl.” he said. Then he grabbed my hand and wrapped it around his shaft, throbbing against my palm. “Feel how hard you make me?”

“Mmm, so big and hard. And all for me. Tell me that you belong to me, Gale.”

“Yes, I am all yours. _This-_ ” he rasped, using his hand over mine to stroke his length, “is all for you. You make me want you so fucking much. I want you _all the time._ When you're not with me, all I have to do is think about you, how I can't wait to be inside you again, and I'm hard and horny and I have to touch myself just to relieve the need.”

I tightened my grasp on his cock and stroked him harder, and he moaned in response. Just the mental image of Gale jerking himself off was making me wet.

“I like when you let me watch.” I said. “It excites me, seeing how good it makes you feel-”

“It's a _thousand_ times better when you do it.”

“You like the feel of my hand on you? Like this?” I asked.

I removed my hand from him just long enough to lick across my palm, wetting it with my saliva, then returned my hand to his cock. My now wet and slippery palm slid smoothly over his hot skin, and his breath caught in the back of his throat as I closed my fist around him and glided it up and down.

“Ah- yes, baby, like that.” he choked out.

“Tell me what you think about when you do this to yourself.” I urged him.

“I- ahh- I think about you, your hot body-” he moaned. “All the dirty things I want to do to you... the things I want you to do to me...”

“Like what, Gale? What do you imagine me doing to you?”

As my hand movements grew faster, so did his breathing.

“Ah- I imagine you-” he gasped, “like this- you're so fucking sexy down on your knees-” _gasp-_ “and you're licking and sucking on my cock like you can't get enough of it- like it's the best fucking thing you've ever tasted-”

I followed along with his fantasy by licking him along the underside of his shaft, then teasing the tip of him with flicks of my tongue.

 _“Yes,”_ he sighed, tangling his fingers in my hair and encouraging me to continue.

I pulled my mouth back for just a moment.

“If you want me to keep going,” I told him, “then keep talking.”

“Oh God- I'm looking down, watching you- you're sucking me so hard, and you're moaning because you like it so much-” _gasp-_ “and you're so fucking good at it-” _gasp-_ “and your tongue is all over me-”

I mimicked his words by taking him deep into my mouth and swirling my tongue around him, sucking him like he is a sweet candy lollipop.

“Shit, Katniss...” he groaned, pulling on my hair again as he drowned in the pleasure my mouth was giving him.

I took my mouth off of him just long enough to demand more dirty talk, because it was turning me on beyond my wildest dreams.

“Keep talking, Gale.”

“You're-” he panted- “You're holding my cock with one hand while you suck me-” _gasp-_ “And your other hand, oh God, you're rubbing it over your breast, pinching your nipple- Then-” _gasp-_ “Then you slide it down until- fuck, your fingers are in your pussy and you're rubbing your clit so fast-” _gasp-_ “You're moaning so loud on my cock, and it feels so fucking good- Ah, you tell me-” _gasp-_ “you tell me to come in your mouth, and I do-” _gasp-_ “I shoot my load into your mouth, but you've made me so excited-” _gasp_ \- “there's so much there, that you can't swallow it fast enough and some drips down your chin-” _gasp-_ “and you look up at me with my cock still in your mouth and my come on your lips... then you slowly lick every drop off of me, and after that I watch you suck your own wetness off your fingers one by one, and you look so _incredibly fucking hot_ that I can hardly stand it!”

I was still sucking on him while he was telling me the story, and his fantasy had me so turned on that I was aching between my legs and I could feel wetness dripping out of me.

I didn't know how Gale was holding back his own orgasm, because I felt like one touch from his hand right now would send me spiraling over the edge.

I pulled him out of my mouth with a pop, to give us both a moment's reprieve, and he sighed loudly, trying to catch his breath.

Still down on my knees, I tipped my face up towards him, though I couldn't see him because the silk scarf still covered my eyes.

With a trembling breath, I asked, “What comes next, Gale? What do we do next in your fantasy?”

He tenderly placed his hand on the side of my face, caressed his thumb across my lips and sending a thrill of excitement straight down to my already throbbing clit, he whispered, “Next I return the favor.”


	12. Sensory Perception, Part Two

“Stand up,” Gale said softly, as he reached down and took both of my hands, helping me up onto my feet. Then he took my wrists and guided them both up behind his neck, sliding his large hands down my arms and down my sides until they rested on my waist, pulling me tight against him as he brought his mouth to mine for a deep, needful kiss. Without even missing a stroke of his tongue against mine, he reached down, scooped me up under my bottom and lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his waist.

He started walking, kissing me the whole time while he carried me, wrapped around his gorgeous body. Though I couldn't see where we were going because I was still blindfolded with my silk scarf over my eyes, I knew that he was heading for our bedroom, and my stomach tightened with excitement.

He set me down gently on the bed, and reclined me down onto my back. I felt the bed move a little as he climbed up next to me, then felt the warmth of his body heat as he laid himself down alongside me. His fingers caressed my cheek, then skimmed down my throat and onto my breast, tracing around my nipple.

“You are so beautiful, I could look at you all day.” he whispered.

“No fair, I can't see your body.” I playfully pouted.

“Don't you worry...” he murmured into my ear, while his thumb and finger lavished attention on my nipple, making it tingle with pleasure. “By the time I'm done with you, you won't care that you couldn't see me. You're going to hear me and feel me until I've made you come so many times that your voice is hoarse and the sheets beneath you are soaking wet.”

My mouth fell open with a stuttered breath as my center pulsed with arousal at his words.

“You like the sound of that don't you?” he asked me.

“Yes.” I breathed.

“I always used to think you were so innocent, but you're not.” he stated as he kissed his way between my breasts and down my stomach, worshipping every inch of my skin with his mouth and his hands. “You are such a naughty girl. You _like_ hearing all the dirty fantasies I have about you.” he said, his nose grazing the underside of my breast while his lips left delicate kisses on my ribs.

“Tell me your favorite one.” I whispered, my throat so dry that I seemed to have lost my voice.

“Hmmm,” he sighed. “Well, there is this one that I particularly like.”

“Tell me!” I begged.

Gale moved back up until his mouth was close to my ear again. He twirled a lock of my hair around his fingers as he got lost in his fantasy.

“I've been gone all day hunting, and when I come home, I'm in a bad mood because I haven't caught anything for our dinner. You're in the bedroom doing something, so I yell to you, _'Sorry, I couldn't get anything today.'_ and I start taking off my coat and boots. You walk up behind me, grab my ass and say, 'Then I guess the only thing you'll be eating tonight is me, for dessert.' I turn around, and you're wearing nothing but that fancy lingerie you got in the capitol- the red lace strapless bra and panties- you know the ones I'm talking about?”

I nodded. I knew exactly the ones he was talking about. He was referring to the undergarments that Cinna had created to go under my red interview dress. I had an entire box of lingerie like that, designed to be beautiful but unseen under all the stupid gowns and fancy clothes I'd been dressed in there. Gale had found the box in my closet when he was helping me pack up some stuff to move in here with him, and he'd gone through every piece of it. He'd never actually seen me in any of it, but it was apparent to me now that he'd been thinking about it. I'd forgotten all about that box of lacy panties and bras and corsets still sitting in my closet. He, obviously, had not.

“So you're wearing that, and my jaw is about on the floor, because you look so fucking hot and sexy. You tell me that you've been here alone all day, and now you need your man to take care of you. I am instantly as hard as a rock, and part of me wants to just lay you out on our kitchen table and fuck you six ways from Sunday, but then I decide, no... you've taken the time to dress up for me, so I'm going to take my time and show you my appreciation.”

I bit my bottom lip and writhed my hips around a little as I imagined myself in Gale's fantasy, confident in the power of my own sexuality, the way _he_ sees me.

“You grab me by my shirt, and say, _'Come on, Hawthorne, your wife has needs.'_ and you pull me into the bedroom. You lay down on your back on the bed and crook your index finger at me, inviting me to join you. I can't get undressed fast enough. I want you so bad. I can't keep my hands off of you. That red lace bra you're wearing, mmm, it pushes you up and out like this-”

I felt him swing his leg over me so he was straddling my abdomen, then he cupped both my breasts and pushed them together, and his breath was hot in my cleavage as he kept talking.

“I can see your nipples peeking through the lace of the bra, and it is driving me fucking _wild_. I want to bury my face between your boobs-” he said as he kissed my breasts that he held in his hands. “Better yet, I want to straddle your chest and rub my cock there between them.” he panted.

My heart pounded harder, the deeper he delved into his fantasy.

“But you have other plans.” he continued, his voice getting raspier the more excited he got. “You throw me over onto my back and you straddle me, like this-”

Gale grabbed me around my waist and rolled me swiftly, so that I was sitting on top of him, just like in his story. He was rock-hard, pressed between my legs.

“You tell me that since I made you wait all afternoon for me to come home, you're going to make me wait for sex, and you're going to make me watch while you get yourself off.”

I shivered with delight at his naughty imagination, my palms pressed to his chest which was rising and falling with shallow breaths.

“You start grinding yourself against me, like this-” he said, taking hold of my hips and moving me so that he was rubbing himself against my clit, but careful not to enter me. I was already so wet that I slid against his length effortlessly, and it felt amazing.

“You're on top of me, teasing me, and I am loving it. You're still wearing the bra and panties, and as much as I want to see you naked, I don't want to take them off because the red lace against your porcelain skin is stunning, and I can't stop staring at you while you rub yourself against me. You start moving faster, and I can feel you soaking through the lace of your panties as you whimper and tell me that you're coming-”

Just as in his story, I was fervently circling my hips, grinding against the hardness between my legs. I felt Gale's hands slide up to grab onto my ass, pulling me even tighter against him, and it felt _so good_. I gasped and moaned as I approached my release.

“You're in total control, and you know the effect you're having on me. You know that I would give anything- _anything-_ to move those sexy little panties aside and shove my cock up into your tight pussy-”

At that, my back arched and I moaned loudly as my orgasm took me over. I threw my head backwards, dizzy with the ecstasy as I continued rubbing myself against my hot husband underneath me.

Gale was quiet for a minute while he watched me ride out the waves of pleasure, but then it became apparent that he was not even close to being done with the story.

“You reach behind your back, unclasp your bra and take it off, and my hands are all over your perfect breasts,” he said, mimicking his words by reaching up and caressing my chest. “But I can't stand your teasing anymore, so I roll you back over, determined to take back control.”

He flipped me over onto my back and hovered over me. Though I couldn't see him through the blindfold, I could feel the heat of his body over mine, as he held himself up with his arms, and then I felt the tickle of his breath as he murmured into my ear.

“I say to you, _'I believe you promised me that I'd get to have you for dessert tonight. And I'm **very** hungry.'_ ”

And he started moving down my body until he was kneeling between my legs, his hand smoothing its way up the inside of my thigh. Though he hadn't even touched me there yet, my clit was already aching for his mouth, his fingers, _anything._

“I get down between your legs, and see that your pretty little panties are just soaked with your wetness, you're so excited for me. And I want to lick every drop of it off of you.”

As he was telling me this, I felt his fingers brush ever so lightly over my folds, and I moaned as my hips writhed in desperate need.

“So I start pulling your panties down, but I go real slow, taking my time, like I'm unwrapping a present that I already know I'm gonna love.”

I smiled at the sweet notion of Gale looking at my body as if it is a gift that I give to him.

“Once I get them off of you, I lean down and kiss you there softly at first,” he said, re-enacting his story exactly as he kissed my lower lips, “then I spread you open and lick you until you're moaning my name.”

And he proceeded to do exactly that. He started out gently, his mouth open against me, his tongue sliding over my clit, as soft and passionate as a French kiss. But the more excited I got, and the more I lifted and circled my hips to meet his motions, the faster he lapped at me until the delicious fluttering of his tongue had me writhing and clutching the bedsheets with both hands, crying out, _“Gale! Gale!”_ as I came again, my whole body shuddering with the pleasure.

I'd scarcely had a chance to catch my breath before Gale was back to narrating his fantasy again, though his voice was growing noticeably more strained from his own arousal that pulsed through his veins.

“By now, you're so excited and wet, that you're _begging_ me to fuck you.”

He slid a finger into me and began moving it in and out. “You want my cock in you _so bad_.”

He slid a second finger in, and at the same time grazed his thumb across my clit. I whimpered loudly as he slowly, methodically fucked me with his fingers, feeling like the sweetest torture as he stroked them against my insides, until my body started tensing up again.

“That's right, just like that, you moan and tell me how bad you want me. Do you want me to fuck you, Katniss?”

“Yes!” I screamed as I climaxed yet again, dripping wetness down his fingers as my pussy clenched around them. “Yes, I want you to fuck me Gale!”

Satisfied with my answer, he slowly withdrew his fingers from inside of me, leaving me feeling empty.

I lay there panting, while I listened to the sucking noises that could only mean that he was licking my wetness off of his fingers, and the mental image turned me on.

I was only just beginning to come down from what I realized was my third orgasm, when I felt Gale's body over mine again, and he eased himself down on top of me. Our bodies were hot and sweaty and our skin was sticking together, but I didn't care. It was sexy beyond belief. Gale has self control like I've never seen, but he had to have been ready to explode by now, after everything he'd done to me.

So I opened my legs wider, my hands slid down his sweat-dampened sides and I tugged on his hips, inviting him in. He glided easily inside of me, our anatomies fitting perfectly. We began to move together, and by that point he'd abandoned the narration, too caught up in the pleasure to finish telling the story, but we both knew how the story ended anyway.

As usual, Gale was right. I couldn't see him, but _holy hell_ , the rest of my senses were in overdrive. I could smell his familiar scent, mixed with the sheen of sweat on his skin. I could taste the saltiness there when I kissed his neck and his shoulder as he nuzzled against me. I could hear his quickened breaths next to my ear, could hear the moans and sighs of delectation that fell from his perfect lips. And most of all, I could feel him- _all of him-_ his heart beating wildly against mine, his strong arms that held me close, his fingers that touched my face and my lips, his hardness that filled my insides as he rocked against me, slowly making love to me so that I could feel every single move he made. And then I felt our synchronized tremors as we came together, gasping for air as our lips touched, moaning into each others mouths as we kissed the end of the fantasy.

When we finally stopped moving and were just lying there together, our bodies still tangled as one, Gale reached up and gently pulled the scarf from my eyes.

I blinked a few times to adjust to the light, then we gazed at each other for a few seconds.

“Did you like the game?” he asked in a soft whisper.

“Yes. We should play again sometime.” I smiled, pulling his lips to mine again for another long kiss.

In my head, I made a mental note to find that box of lingerie and blow Gale's mind. And other things.


	13. Making Fantasy Reality

The next morning, still half-asleep, I shivered and pulled the quilt up around me tighter against the early morning chill. Instinctively I reached over to Gale's side of the bed, searching for the warmth of his body to snuggle into, but to my disappointment, my hand found only empty sheets where he should have been. Of course he was already up; he's always such an early riser, usually before sunrise.

I pulled his pillow to me and rested my head back down, burying my face in it, concealing my ridiculous grin as I inhaled his scent that lingered on the pillowcase. I curled up on my side and hugged the pillow tight against my chest, my pulse quickening as the very scent of him sent a thrill of need straight down between my legs, where he spent so much time yesterday bringing me to one dizzying climax after another, while he shared his dirty fantasy with me. I was bound and determined that tonight I was going to repay that debt by giving Gale a honeymoon gift he'd never forget- making his favorite fantasy a reality.

I lifted my head a little and listened. I could hear him humming softly to himself as he strode over to the fireplace and took the whistling teakettle out of the fire, bringing it into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of tea.

As much as I was enjoying the memory of yesterday, bed just wasn't as fun without Gale in it, so I decided to get up. I heard him walk past the bedroom again, over to the fireplace. Silently, I peered out around the bedroom wall to sneak a peek at him.

He was squatting down in front of the hearth, stoking the fire and putting another log on to keep it going. He was wearing his favorite gray flannel pajama pants and a cream colored thermal shirt that fit his torso snugly. The way he was crouched down like that made those soft flannel pants ride down low on his hips, hugging the curve of his ass, leaving little to my imagination except for dirty daydreams of me smoothing my hands over that perfectly sculpted ass of his. When he stood up and turned back around to return to the kitchen, I ducked back into the bedroom so he wouldn't see me. I heard him set down his cup of tea on the table, then the scrape of chair legs on the wood floor as he pulled out a place to sit. I peeked around the wall again and was rewarded with a glorious sight.

In the dim light of early sunrise, Gale was reaching up over his head to light the old rusty lantern that hung above the kitchen table. With his arms outstretched, the hem of his shirt was lifted up so that five or six inches of his lower abdomen was bared between where his shirt ended and the slightly loose waistband of his pajama bottoms hung dangerously low. I swallowed hard as I stood there admiring Gale's body...his taut abdominal muscles, that line of dark hair that led into his pants. My hungry eyes traveled up his body to his arms, his muscles flexing in that tight shirt while his skilled hands trimmed and lit the lantern's wick. His just-out-of-bed hair looked messy and unruly, but it a very sexy and rugged way...the way it usually looks after my fingers have been running through it for half an hour, my thighs quivering against both sides of his face while he pleasures me until I beg for mercy.

 _It's just not fair,_ I thought to myself, shaking my head. I wake up looking like a sleepy, disheveled mess. Gale rolls out of bed looking so fucking unintentionally sexy that I just want to push him up against the kitchen counter and tear those flannel pants off of him.

 _Later,_ I reminded myself, forcing myself to breathe. There would be plenty of time for that later tonight, when I surprise Gale with the lingerie he'd been wanting to see me in. But in order to make that happen, I needed an excuse to go back to my house in the Village for a little while so I could retrieve the box of sexy little things from my closet. I was racking my brain as I watched Gale moving around our little kitchen area getting something to eat, when I noticed that my husband was holding the perfect excuse in the palm of his hand. He sat down at our table, propping his bare feet up on the chair across from him and began eating a huge piece of our wedding cake for breakfast.

“Nice breakfast, Gale.” I smirked at him as I walked out into the kitchen in my pajamas, ruffling his already messy hair.

“Hate to see such a good cake go to waste.” he mumbled back, grinning.

“Yeah, about that,” I started. “There's still so much cake there. We haven't even eaten half of it! There's no way you and I will ever be able to finish it, and I would hate to throw it out. I was thinking that I would bring some of it home to my mom and Prim today.”

He shook his head slowly and gave me a devilish grin.

“No way, babe. I told you I'm not sharing you with anyone this week. You're all mine.” he teased, taking my hand and pulling me into his lap, making me laugh.

“I'm sure you can live without me for just a couple hours. It'll give you a chance to miss me.” I smiled.

“Wait a minute, you weren't even going to take me with you?” he asked.

_Shit. Hadn't planned on him wanting to tag along. Think fast, Katniss..._

“It's not that I don't want you to come, it's just that I think Prim might want to have some 'girl time' to talk about stuff. I think she may have questions about what it's like to be married, and I don't know if my mom's had the 'birds and bees' talk with her yet, so she might want to ask me stuff-”

“Say no more.” he said, scraping the last bit of frosting from his plate. “I don't want any part of having the 'birds and bees' talk with your little sister. Take all the time you want. I'll go out hunting and get us something for dinner.”

_Phew. Dodged a bullet there._

At her age, I was pretty certain that Prim already knew about the birds and the bees, but it gave Gale a good reason to not want to go.

“Just leave plenty of frosting here for me.” he drawled flirtatiously, as he stood up, sliding me off of his lap, swiped his finger into some of the frosting on the cake and held it to my lips for me to suck off. “I may want to frost you with it later.”

“Likewise.” I replied as I took hold of his wrist and pulled Gale's finger into my mouth, curling my tongue around it and sucking it seductively. If he wanted to be a tease, I'd be a tease right back. While I continued swirling my tongue over his sugar-sweetened skin, I glanced up through my lashes to find his eyes dark and glittering wickedly as they watched my mouth.

“You keep that up, and you won't be going anywhere, wifey.”

“Don't threaten me with a good time.” I taunted him with a sarcastic smile when I finished sucking the frosting from his finger.

He just laughed and shook his head at me.

Later that morning, I wrapped up a large chunk of wedding cake and put it in our big wicker picnic basket to carry home. Of course, I ended up standing at our front door holding it for a good twenty minutes before I actually left, because Gale was being silly and wouldn't stop kissing me goodbye. He kept saying, _'Just one more. Just one more.'_ and he was laughing and grabbing my behind while he kissed me. Finally I told him through my own giggles that I had to go if he wanted me back by sunset, so we reluctantly tore ourselves apart and I headed out on my walk back towards town.

I had a nice visit with my mom and Prim, who was ecstatic to see me, and she was even more thrilled to see the huge square of wedding cake I'd brought over for them. I took a long shower while I was there, so I would be extra clean and pretty for Gale tonight.

After my shower, I got dressed and sat on the floor of my walk-in closet with the empty picnic basket at my side. I rummaged through my belongings until I found the box of lingerie from my time in the capitol and started going through it, tossing things into the basket that I thought Gale would like to see me in. I was completely lost in my thoughts as I dug through the assortment of satin corsets, silk stockings and tiny lace panties when Prim suddenly appeared behind me.

“Ooh, those are pretty!” she sighed.

I startled when I heard her voice, and dropped the pair of panties I had just been holding up, my face instantly turning scarlet red.

“Prim!” I exclaimed.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you.” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Just bringing home some clothes and stuff.” I muttered.

Prim sat down next to me, reached into the box and pulled out the pink lace panties I'd been holding up when she walked in on me.

“Are you going show Gale your fancy undies?”

“Maybe.” I mumbled, taking them from her and shoving them into the basket, trying to avoid Prim's stare.

“Do you guys kiss a lot?”

“Yes, all the time. I love Gale.” I told her. At least that part wasn't hard to answer.

“Sometimes I think I would like to kiss Rory.” she admitted quietly, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

“You would?” I asked.

“Yes. I think he's cute.” she beamed.

“Oh.” I replied, not knowing quite what else to say to that. I've never been any good at girl talk.

“Does Gale like seeing you in your undies?” she wondered, still studying the bottom of her shirt. I didn't like where this line of questioning was going.

I sighed. “Yes.” I admitted, forcing myself to be honest with her. “But don't go showing Rory your undies!” I pointed at her. “You're way too young for that!”

“I wasn't gonna!” she retorted. She was quiet for a moment, then she had more questions for me.

“Did you wait until you got married to let Gale see you in just your undies?”

_Oh, she's killing me._

“Yes.” I lied to her. Of course, Gale had seen far more than just my undies before we were married... and so had Peeta for that matter, but Prim didn't need to know that.

“So...you and Gale...you know...have a lot of sex?” she mumbled, and I nearly choked.

 _Yup,_ I decided, _this is God punishing me for lying to Gale this morning about why he couldn't come with me._

I was so uncomfortable having this discussion that I actually envied him right now, and I wished that I were out in the woods hunting too.

“I see Mom's had the sex talk with you.” I stated, avoiding the question.

“Well, yeah... and we learned it in school too.” she answered. “Sooo...is sex nice? Do you like when Gale does it to you? Because it sounds a little scary.”

I blushed so red that I felt like my cheeks were burning.

“Prim, sex is very private.”

For a moment, she looked ashamed, like she shouldn't have asked. But I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't ask me personal questions if she trusted me, so I took a deep breath for courage and answered her.

“Yes, when you are with someone you love and trust, sex is very nice. And someday when you get married, you will enjoy it.”

“Wouldn't it be cool if I married Rory when we grow up? Then we could both be Hawthornes!” she laughed, and I was exceedingly grateful to change to a lighter subject.

“Yes, it would be very cool.” I smiled at her. “Now go find something to do so I can finish going through my stuff!” I teased her, tugging on her braid. “Gale will be worried if I'm not home in time for dinner!”

“Okay,” she sighed, rolling her eyes as she stood up and walked away.

 _Boy, Gale got the better end of the deal being out hunting today,_ I smiled to myself. And his day was about to get a whole lot better once I got back to him.

Shortly after, I said goodbye to my mom and Prim and headed back into the woods to hurry home to Gale. I actually hoped that he wasn't home yet so that I could surprise him, and I was happy when I got there and saw that, indeed, he was still out.

I shook my coat from my arms as fast as I could and threw it over one of the kitchen chairs. I rushed into the bedroom with the picnic basket, knowing that he could potentially walk in the door at any moment, so I hurried to get myself ready just in case. I stripped off all my clothes and pulled out the red lingerie from the basket. First I put on the bra, adjusting my breasts into its snug cups, then I stepped into the dainty lace panties and pulled them up my legs. I stood there for a few minutes in front of the old, tarnished mirror on the wall, turning forward and back several times to see myself in every angle, amazed at the transformation that a little bit of well-positioned lace could do. I no longer looked like a plain, scrawny, half-starved hunter girl from the seam. I studied every detail of my reflection in the mirror in disbelief, realizing that I looked like a _woman._

Thanks to my being a victor, the past several months of having regular meals and adequate nutrition for the first time in my life had helped to fill out my body a bit, and the lingerie complimented my slightly curvier shape quite nicely. Cradled by the scarlet lace, my breasts looked full and rounded, pushed up by the cups which were cut so tantalizingly low that a petal-pink sliver of each nipple peeked out above the edge. My stomach was still flat, but now it looked healthy and fit rather than hollow and hungry. My hip bones no longer protruded in sharp angles against sallow skin. Now they were a graceful curvature beneath soft olive-toned flesh; the place where Gale's palm so often rested contentedly after our lovemaking, as if his hand and my hip had been designed to fit perfectly together, two pieces of the same puzzle. My eyes followed the narrow swath of red lace that now stretched across those hips and downward between my legs.

Gale would like this surprise, I knew. I wanted him to come home right now so I could show him. I was dying to see his reaction, to see the look on his face. The hunger in my own eyes reflected back at me from the mirror. I allowed my eyelids to drift shut while I pictured Gale walking up behind me, his lips kissing the back of my neck, strong arms encircling my waist, capable hands claiming ownership of my body, reminding me without words that I am his and he is mine. I imagined him holding me tight against him with my back to his chest, his hips slowly flexing and shifting as they sought the sweet friction of his hardness rubbing against the cleft of my backside.

My body was growing impatient, and the more I thought about Gale, the more it wanted to be touched. But he wasn't here yet, and there was no telling when he would be back. As if they had a mind of their own, my fingers began slowly tracing slow strokes over the front of my panties, mimicking the way he knew how to touch me when he wanted to fan the flames of my desire. My hand crept further down until my fingertips found what they were looking for, the softly swollen bud of my clitoris, separated from my fingers by only that whisper thin covering of lace.

 _God damn it, Gale, where are you?_ My body was screaming. Fantasizing about him had been a big mistake on my part. Now I was hot and horny...and all alone. My naughty thoughts plus my wandering hand were adding up to be a highly combustible combination.

 _Was I really going to do this? Could I really not wait?_ I asked myself. For a split second, I felt my face flush warm with guilt over wanting to satiate my own needs while I waited for him to return to me, but then I thought, why should I feel guilty? Gale had no problem admitting how often he touched himself thinking of me when I wasn't here, and I loved that about him. He certainly would not have a problem with me indulging in a little appetizer before the main course, so to speak. In fact, he'd probably love to hear all about it.

I backed myself up to the bed and lay down on top of it, letting my legs sprawl apart loosely, my dominant hand drifting down between them while the other hand reached up and grabbed Gale's pillow, pulling it beneath my head. I turned my face into it, letting the scent memory of him wash over me and pull me back into the fantasy I'd been thinking about a few minutes ago when I'd been standing there in front of the mirror.

I returned to where I'd left off in my thoughts, with him standing behind me, his breath hot on the side of my neck. I envisioned his arms starting out around my waist, but then moving his hands in opposite directions- one moving up to palm my breast, and the other making its way down to cup my mound with his fingers.

Acting out what I was imagining, I slid my own hand down inside my panties, dipping two fingers inside of myself and then drawing them upward, spreading my own wetness over my clit. A low moan hummed in the back of my throat as I imagined Gale's fingers on me instead of my own, manipulating my body with ease while he whispered dirty things to me.

“Gale,” I moaned, my fingers rubbing faster, my hips circling in harmony with their touch. I pictured us both watching our reflections in the mirror, his teeth grazing my shoulder as he stroked me closer to climax. He gently held my chin in one hand, keeping my face aimed at the mirror and murmured, _“Watch me fuck you.”_ , as he slowly bent me over the foot of the bed and slid himself inside of me.

That was all it took for me to fall over the edge, gasping and shuddering with my release as the fantasy image I'd conjured up of Gale and myself broke up and fell apart in my head, like shattered glass falling from its frame. For a few moments, I couldn't think of anything except the pleasure that coursed through my body. When my brain was finally able to make coherent thoughts again, I suddenly understood why Gale readily admitted how much he enjoyed fantasizing about me while he touched himself. It was _fucking_ _hot._

I was still lying there on the mattress a few minutes later, spread eagled and catching my breath, staring at the ceiling with a stupid ass grin on my face when I heard the cabin door open. I jumped up from the bed and checked myself in the mirror, adjusting the cups of my bra. Other than the blush in my cheeks and the dampness in the crotch of my panties, I didn't think it was too obvious what I'd just been doing in the minutes before he walked in.

“Catnip?” he called out as he took off his coat, boots and socks at the door. He must have seen my coat that I left thrown over the chair when I rushed in.

“I'm just putting some clothes away in the bedroom!” I lied. _Well, it was only a partial lie,_ I thought as I stuffed handfuls of lingerie from the basket into my dresser drawer. “I'll be right out!” I told him loudly, stalling for time. “Did you have any luck hunting today?”

I heard him stride over to the kitchen, tossing the game bag up on the counter while he yelled back to me.

“Got another rabbit today. Seems like there's lots of them out there this year! Thought I'd make us a nice stew for dinner.”

“Sounds great!” I hollered back. I stole one last glance in the mirror to make sure I looked ready to blow Gale's mind.

Almost as an afterthought, I pulled out the braid in my hair and ran my fingers through it, fluffing up the wavy locks so they fell softly down my back. I closed my eyes for a second, eagerly looking forward to feeling his hands wrapped in my hair, his strong fingers flexing and releasing, tangled in curls the way they always were whenever he was on the receiving end of any kind of bodily pleasure from me, which there was going to be a whole lot of tonight.

I took a breath to steady my excited nerves, then I silently tiptoed out to the kitchen to where he was busy at work with his back to me, preparing to make dinner.

I hoped he wouldn't mind that I planned on having dessert first.

While he was digging through the cupboard, pulling out the big cast iron cookpot and some jars of spices, I stealthily snuck up behind him in my bare feet, wearing only the red lace strapless bra and panties that he had described to me in his fantasy. He was so immersed in what he was doing, and making so much noise as clanged the metal soup ladle into the empty pot he was holding, he had no idea I was right behind him.

“Hey Catnip?” he yelled, thinking I was still in the bedroom. “Do you know where I put-”

“I know where you'll be putting _this_.” I purred, reaching around his hip and gently cupping his crotch with my hand.

He whipped around, startled, and when he saw me in nothing but the lingerie, he gasped and dropped the heavy cooking pot and ladle, leaving a permanent dent in the wood floor. I smirked, thinking to myself that every time I saw that dent from now on, I would remember this moment.

“Holy... fucking... hell.” he mumbled, backing himself up against the counter. He stood there, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the countertop, completely frozen still except for his widened eyes, which couldn't seem to decide what part of my body they wanted to look at first. I took great satisfaction as I noticed his perfect lips pursed together, slowly letting out the breath that had caught in his throat at the sight of me. It's not every day that I can make Gale Hawthorne speechless, so I savored this moment with delight. I watched his eyes dilate with carnal need as they surveyed the landscape of my body, sliding over the rounded swell of my breasts, down the curvature of my waist, over my hips, down to the tiny triangle of red lace between my legs, which did little to conceal my anatomy beneath.

“My God, Katniss...” he finally whispered.

“You've been gone a long time, Hawthorne.” I said slowly, as I stepped towards him, taking his shirt in my hands and unbuttoning it. “Your wife's been here all alone, and she has _needs_.”

“Better not keep her waiting then.” he whispered hoarsely.

“Better not.” I answered, taking his hand and turning around, walking in front of him to lead him to our bedroom. I could feel him staring at my ass, which was scarcely even half covered by the skimpy lace fabric, cut very high so as not to show any panty lines beneath dresses.

“Wow,” he sighed as he stared, and I smiled inwardly. I felt somewhat self-conscious in this getup since I've never been much of a girly-girl, but Gale obviously thought I looked sexy, so it boosted my confidence.

When we got to our bedroom, I stripped him down as fast as I could and pushed him down onto the bed. Not surprisingly, he was already hard before I'd even touched him. Now that his initial shock had worn off, he was grinning a thousand-watt smile at me as I climbed on top of him and straddled his hips, letting him stare at me in the red lace number he'd been dreaming of for so long.

But then, suddenly his face fell, and he said glumly, “This is so sad.”

I panicked. “What? What's wrong?”

With his hands on my thighs, he exhaled dramatically and said, “It's so sad that I obviously died out there hunting. I've died and gone to heaven, and I never even got to say goodbye to my wife.”

I frowned at him and slapped him lightly on the arm, and he dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“Shut up, you idiot!” I said, trying not to laugh with him. “I'm trying to be sexy and you're ruining it!”

“You _are_ sexy.” he stated, his expression turning thoughtful as he leaned up, cupped my face in his hands and pulled me down against his chest, kissing me over and over. “ _Incredibly_ sexy.” He let go of my face and slid his hands down my sides and onto my ass, grinding me against his hardness while he kept kissing me. “As in, _'I'm the luckiest_ _man in the world'_   sexy.”

“I don't know about that.” I said humbly.

“Trust me, I do.” he replied, gazing intently at me.

I sighed, surrendering all thoughts as his lips pressed heated kisses first to my mouth, then meandered slowly down to the tender skin beneath my jaw. When his kisses reached my ear, Gale whispered, “Sit up and let me look at you again.”

So I sat up, letting his eyes needfully drink me in like I was water in the desert. His fingers reached out and caressed over the red lace of my bra, as if he needed to touch me to know that this was real and not just a dream. The pads of his fingertips traced lightly around the pink outline of my nipple that peeked through the delicate floral pattern of the lace.

“I can't believe you did this for me.” he breathed.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Do I ever.” he answered, his voice deep and husky. “Apparently I need to tell you naughty fantasies more often.”

“I hope you do.” I replied, intertwining my fingers with his and playfully pinning his arms outstretched above his head while I leaned forward to kiss those lovely lips of his again, delving into his mouth ravenously with my tongue.

When I pulled back from the kiss, practically panting from the lust between us as we lay forehead to forehead, Gale's eyes immediately traveled down to my chest, watching it as it rose and fell with shallow breaths.

“You know,” he said smoothly, “If you keep leaning over like that, your tits are going to fall right out of that bra.”

I glanced down and found that he was right- I was practically falling out of it.

“Oh dear, look at that...” I played along, shifting myself upwards just enough so that my half-exposed breasts were almost touching his face.

“Oh, believe me, I'm looking at it!” he remarked in a smartass tone of voice. “I'd be more than happy to help you out with that, if I could have my hands back.” he said, lifting his head from the pillow to kiss the rounded cleavage that he was staring into.

I let go of his hands that I'd been holding down against the mattress, and those hands were instantly on my breasts. He slid his fingers just inside the edge of one cup so that my nipple was exposed, and brought his mouth to it, suckling it erect between his lips. Sliding his hands around my back, he unhooked the bra and let it fall from my body, then he tossed it on the floor. He growled his approval, pulling my chest down to his face so he could lavish my breasts with kisses and gentle nibbles of teeth against soft skin.

I sat myself up straight again on top of him, feeling his hardness pulse against me. He rested his hands on my inner thighs, his eyes fixated on the lace between my legs. He advanced one hand until his thumb brushed over my center in teasing strokes. As he touched me, the corners of his mouth twitched, then formed a cocky smirk.

“My, my, Mrs. Hawthorne. Your panties are soaking wet already. A little eager are we?”

“So eager that maybe I had to start without you earlier because you kept me waiting so long.”

His eyes widened and turned darker. He withdrew his hand from between my legs, placed it over my own hand and guided it back to the same spot where his had just been.

“Show me.” he urged.

Without ever breaking my eye contact with Gale, I eased my hand down into my panties and slipped two fingers inside my folds, sighing involuntarily when they slid over my clit. I leaned forward slightly, supporting myself with one hand flat against his chest while the other moved beneath my panties. I knew it had to be driving him crazy, watching my fingers through the gauzy fabric, knowing full well what I was doing, but with his view partially obscured by the intricate embroidered design of the red lace.

“Mmmm...” I moaned, stroking myself faster, letting my eyes close. My other hand pressed harder against Gale's muscular chest, my nails digging into his skin slightly when my fingers curled and flexed in reaction to the pleasure I was giving myself. I could feel the weight of Gale's stare as he watched me, kneading my ass with both hands.

“Damn, you are even hotter than in my fantasy.” he growled. “I can't take my eyes off you in those hot little panties.”

His words gave me an idea, and I couldn't believe my own brazenness, but he always seemed to know how to bring out my naughty side. I opened my eyes and slowly pulled my hand out of my underwear.

“Well, in that case, let me give you a closer view of my 'hot little panties', and you can stare as long as you want.” I purred.

I swung my leg over him and turned myself around so I was straddling him backwards, facing away from him. I backed myself up, so that my ass was right in front of his face, and leaned down, sliding his cock into my mouth. I heard him gasp at my bold move, then his hands caressed up the back of my thighs and onto my ass cheeks.

“Oh my fucking God.” he groaned.

It felt different, sucking him upside down like this, but I loved knowing that Gale was enjoying both the experience and the view. His hands gripped my thighs just above his face, his eyes trained on the space between them, looking down his own abdomen to where my mouth was currently occupied with licking and sucking his cock. With each moan through his gritted teeth, with each tightening of his fingers on my thighs, with each upward shift of his pelvis towards my mouth, I gloated inside, drunk off the feeling of power it gave me to be the one in control, the giver of utter, incomparable pleasure.

I should have known better than to underestimate Gale by thinking that he would just lay there and let me service him like that.

His hands took hold of my hips and gently pulled them downward, opening my legs further until my center was so close to his face that I could feel the heat of his breath when he whispered my name longingly against my sex. Then I felt him slide one hand down the cleft of my ass, hooking his thumb into my panties to pull them aside and hold them there. Before I could stop it, a whimper of need rose up from within me when I felt his lips open and then close against my lower lips. Repetitive, slow, sweet, wet kisses kindled agonizing pleasure as his tongue explored my anatomy from this new angle, gliding along my folds, catching each shiny droplet of arousal that his mouth coaxed from me.

It wasn't long before I had to let him slide from my mouth because he had me gasping and moaning too much to keep my lips closed around him. Instead I wrapped my hand around his shaft, still slick and dripping with my saliva, and slid it up and down his length, wetness oozing between my fingers with each upward stroke.

I was trying not to lose control as his free hand grasped my hip, holding me so that I couldn't escape the reach of his tongue. I wanted to wait for him to finish first; I was supposed to be pleasing _him_ tonight, after all.

But that wasn't what Gale wanted.

I could tell by the insistent lapping of his tongue, the smacking of his lips as he hungrily sucked my clit, that he was wanting- no, _demanding-_ for me to come for him while he held me down against his mouth.

 _“Gale!”_ I moaned, pressing my forehead into his hip.

I let go of him and grabbed fistfuls of the quilt beneath us instead, holding on as if for dear life as the tension in my body built and crested like an ocean wave about to break and crash onto the shore. And then all at once, it engulfed me, leaving me breathless and trembling as I climaxed and then rode out the ripples of pleasure as they gradually waned. My hips shifted above his face when the tongue pressed between my folds changed its pace from fast and frenetic to slow, soothing strokes, concluded with a kiss.

“Damn you Gale.” I muttered when my breath had slowed enough to speak again.

He laughed softly as he fixed the crotch of my panties, putting them back where they belonged, then placed a soft kiss on the damp lace.

I swung my leg over him and turned myself back around so that I was lying on top of him the right way, with my chin resting on his chest, looking in his eyes.

“This was supposed to be about _you_... me making _you_ feel good, not the other way around.”

“That _did_ make me feel good. Nothing turns me on more than hearing you moan my name like that. And this is supposed to be _my_ fantasy right? Well, my fantasies _always_ involve me making you come as many times as I can. Speaking of which, I'm not finished with you yet.”

“Gale-” I started to protest.

“Shhh.” he quieted me, pressing his lips to mine as he rolled me over onto my back. “If you want to make me feel good,” he murmured between kisses, “then let me have the rest of the fantasy... the part where I make love to the woman who shares my bed- _kiss_ \- and my home- _kiss_ \- and my heart- _kiss_ \- and my last name...”

“And your dirty fantasies.” I added with a coquettish grin.

“And best of all, makes my dirty fantasies come true.” he agreed, smiling back at me as he moved one hand between my breasts and then down the center of my abdomen until he could tuck his fingers just inside the lace edge of my panties. “Thank you for this. You never cease to amaze me.”

“You're welcome.” I whispered, as he started pulling them down my hips. I lifted my bottom just enough for him to ease them off, then he slid them down my legs until I could toss them to the floor with one flick of my foot.

He parted my knees so that he could kneel in between, bending forward and placing both hands on my waist, kissing his way unhurriedly up my hip, across my belly, over both of my breasts. His hands caressed lovingly up my sides, his fingertips wandering in winding trails up my chest, tracing their way over my collarbone, then working their way back down to my waist again as if he wanted to memorize every inch of my body.

 _“Katniss...”_ he sighed, his hands expressing his love and appreciation in a way words could not, his fingers ghosting over my skin in reverence, leaving goosebumps in the wake of their tender touch.

Then he slid his hands from my waist down over my hips, down my legs until they reached my ankles. Gently grasping one in each hand, he lifted them up onto his shoulders and positioned himself at my entrance. His face reflected pure bliss as he entered me, warm and wet and welcoming the hardness that filled me up in the most pleasant way imaginable.

His eyes drifted halfway shut, all smoky silver and heavy lidded as he pulled back out almost all the way, then slid back in again. His lips hung partway open, breathing deeply with each measured thrust into me. He turned his head to one side, kissing the ankle that rested there, then leaned down closer to me until my knees were nearly touching my chest.

“You feel so tight like this...” he breathed, gazing down at me in total adoration. “And you look... _fuck,_ you've never looked sexier.”

I smiled up at the man I loved, his expression full of desire and devotion, and suddenly I was consumed with the need to hold him as close to me as possible, to feel his heartbeat, to feel his breath on my neck. I reached my arms up and held them out to him, inviting him into my embrace.

He slid his hands up my legs to my ankles again, and this time he eased them down from his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. He lowered himself down into my waiting arms, cupping his hand on one side of my face and pressing his lips to the other, his kisses and warm breaths tickling my cheek as he made love to me.

I ran my hands over his body, touching him everywhere I could reach. I delighted in the way the muscles in his back and his waist shifted and tightened beneath his smooth skin each time he thrust into me.

When we finally came, reaching the pinnacle together, it was as if we were one being, the passion and the pleasure ebbing and flowing between our two bodies until it almost felt indistinguishable where Gale's body ended and mine began. As his movements slowed and then finally stilled inside of me, we lay there breathing heavily, his fingers languidly smoothing through long strands of my hair, while mine drifted up and down over his lower back.

I turned my head lazily towards the window over our bed, where the sunset light was coming in, bathing our tangled bodies in warm tones of gold and copper.

“I missed you out there today.” Gale said, shifting his gaze to where I was looking out at the woods. “Hunting's not as much fun without you.”

“Well, I hope that the surprise made it worthwhile.” I told him with a grin.

“I'll suffer through hunting alone every single day if finding my wife waiting for me in sexy lingerie is what I get to come home to.” he smirked.

“I could probably arrange that.” I hinted, with a teasing look.

“Oh, really?” Gale asked, propping himself up on his elbows above me, his eyes wide and sparkling with interest. “Are you telling me that you might have brought home some of the other sexy little pieces you had stashed away in that box?”

“Let's just say that I plan on making the rest of our honeymoon... _memorable.”_ I flirted.

“Hot damn.” Gale said, staring at me. Then in a flash, he pulled away from me and jumped off the bed, tugging on his pajama pants.

“What are you doing?” I laughed.

“Going to make dinner!” he announced. “You're going to need to build up your endurance for all the sex we'll be having if you plan on dressing up for me all week!”

“Oh, _Gale!_ ” I giggled, throwing my pillow at him.

He caught the pillow in one hand and swooped back over to the bed, climbing up over me on his hands and knees.

“Wanna come help me in the kitchen?” he asked. “The sooner we eat, the sooner we can come back to bed...”

“Give me sixty seconds to get dressed and I'll meet you there.” I said, lifting my head to give him a kiss.

“Deal.” he agreed, giving me one last kiss before he left the bed once again.

I smiled to myself, pausing to admire his ass in those flannel pajama pants as he walked away, before getting up to go join him.

If the rest of the week was going to be as fun as today, we'd be needing lots of endurance indeed.


End file.
